Return of the Betrayed
by Aix98
Summary: After betrayed by the gods and losing his friends during the war, Percy was imprisoned in Tartarus. After six years, he escaped, more powerful than ever. A new threat arises and threatens Olympus but what happens when their only hope for salvation is the very hero they betrayed? A 5-way relationship Harem, but it's going to be Percabeth mostly.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Um, shhh . . . .**

**Chapter 1**

**Percy's POV**

As the battle raged on in the sacred grounds of Greece, I tried to stay focused in keeping myself alive. Riptide was being a weapon of mass destruction as I slashed and hacked at monsters without mercy, and certainly without pleasure. I slaughtered monster after monster and still, they seemed endless. The demigods of Rome and Greece weren't doing too badly either. They managed to hold off on their own against the horde of monsters that was enough to wet anyone's pants.

I've seen many of my friends fall in battle, but I have no time to be mourning for their deaths with all the battle raging around me. Among the fallen are the Stolls, Clarisse, Katie and both Leo and Frank who died when the Argo II crashed before even arriving here.

"Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth shouted somewhere to my right. I glanced over to see her slicing her ivory sword, making her way towards me. We stood with our backs against each other. "Just like old times, huh?"

"You're being nostalgic," I said as I slashed at the snout of a hellhound. "Besides, this is way more fun than the last war,"

"Fun and dangerous," Annabeth agreed. "Duck!" She shouted. I ducked as her sword swung over me, slicing a dracaenae in half.

"I love you," I said. I don't know if we'll survive this battle or not, but if we didn't, I wanted her to know that.

"Now's not the time, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said as he stabbed a Cyclops in the gut. "But I love you too,"

The battle raged on for what seemed like hours. The really annoying thing was that the gods didn't help. Not even a single one of them lent a helping hand. Not even my father. In anger, I stomped my feet as hard as I could, using my power as the son of the Earthshaker. The ground shook violently and the earth starts to split open, swallowing monsters and bringing them into the heart of the Earth. From the earth, I pulled out the currents of water that was flowing deep inside in the earth.

I'd only pulled off this trick once in Mount St Helens and I wasn't eager to try it out again. Why? Because the first time I tried it, I almost woke up the Father of Monsters, Typhon himself.

By the way, he's a charming fellow, that guy.

I dug deep and felt an intense pull in my gut. Soon, a torrent of water sprung out of the crevice that I just made. I swept my hand over the battlefield, sweeping the monsters off of their feet.

"Jason!" I shouted, hoping he would hear me. I could see him just at the corner of my eye, floating in the air with his power over the wind. He nodded and struck the enemy with a bolt of massive lightning.

At the other side of the battlefield, I heard Reyna shouting as she lifted the legion standards, the golden eagle. "Twelfth Legion Fulminata!" She said it with such ferocity and confidence that our allies' actually rallied and shouted as one, as the golden eagle shot chains of lightning which bounced from monster to monster. Thanks to the water magic I did earlier, the lightning bounced easier, along with Jason's lightning. Monsters were getting disintegrated left right and center at a rapid pace, but it was still not enough to make a dent in the enemy forces.

Then, our troubles increased.

From the earth, erupted an ungodly roar and the ground cracked. Everyone turned their attention at the center of the battlefield, including me. The earth exploded open, revealing Porphyrion with his brethren of earth giants and his band of world-wreckers.

"Fear me!" Porphyrion bellowed. "For I will destroy Olympus and wake Mother Earth!"

Surely, the Olympians must come now, right? A tidal wave? A massive thunder? Anything?

Nothing? Well, fuck you too then.

I moved forward, slashing at the monsters that were on my way. I ducked under the swing of the club of a Cyclops then rolled sideways, evading a dracaenae's weighed net. I sliced off the Cyclops's knee and stabbed the dracaenae in the gut. My reflexes were working overtime and for the first time since a while, my ADHD is keeping my alive. The constant clangs of metal and roars of monsters kept ringing in my ear. I slashed at the ribcage of another hellhound as I kicked another Cyclops in the nose and followed up with a stab at the back of its knee.

The Gigantes were making themselves useful as they stepped on their smaller enemies, which happen to be my friends. Although I want nothing more than to drive my blade down their throats, I knew that would be suicide. The Gigantes couldn't be defeated, not without the help of the gods. The battle raged on all around me as my vision turned red. I don't know if I was hallucinating or not, but if I was, I was going to need some help.

"They're endless," I muttered to myself.

"As if we need more problems right now," Piper muttered next to me. I didn't realize she was there.

"Having fun, Pipes?" I grinned as I panted heavily. Piper grinned back.

"Are you kidding me? In the brink of death, facing another impossible obstacle, fighting for my life, I couldn't be having more fun than I have now," Piper managed.

"I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not," Jason said next to me. "But if you are, than I agree with you."

"Percy!" I saw Annabeth running towards me. "Hazel's dead,"

I gritted my teeth. I can barely control my anger at this point. I know that all of us were at our breaking point. We've been pushed out to beyond our limits. My friends are dying, the enemies are overwhelming, the giants are killing my friends and the gods are not even helping us.

This was as far as it goes.

"I'll kill Gaia with my bare hands," I growled. "I don't care how, but I will kill her." I gripped the blade of my sword and slid my hand slightly, cutting myself.

"Percy, what are you doing?" Jason asked.

"Hazel's blood has already been spilt," I muttered. "Let Mother Earth taste my blood as well," I dipped my hand over as a drop of my blood poured down and dropped to the Earth.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Jason asked, gripping his gladius tighter.

"I'm going to kill Gaia, with or without help," I said, standing with my decision.

"We'll stand with you," Piper said. Jason nodded as well.

"Let's go kill us an earth goddess," Annabeth smirked. Seconds later, the ground rumbled violently. The most massive earthquake was occurring here, in Greece. It was stronger than any other that my dad had ever conjured up, and he is the Earthshaker. A womanly laugh erupted from the ground, as if the earth itself was laughing, which is kind of true.

_Percy Jackson, _Gaia said. _Never would I think that you would change sides at the last minute._

"I didn't," I shouted to the earth. "I wake you up so just I could kill you myself,"

Gaia laughed again. Then, at the far distance up on a singular hill at the foot of Mount Olympus, a figure rose from the earth, towering up to forty feet tall. She had black hair, a somehow brownish complexion, matching the dirt completely and a serene smile, which twisted into an evil grin as soon as she saw us. Her green dress was made out of something that looked like the earth's very energy.

If I didn't know that the bitch was Gaia, I would've thought that she was Hera, which was equally bad.

"At last, we meet," Gaia bellowed. Surprisingly, her forces retreated, leaving us behind. I looked over to my side of that battlefield and I didn't enjoy what I was seeing. Out of the hundreds of demigods, both Roman and Greek, that came marching into battle, now it looked like only a few dozens were spared.

"Oh gods . . ." Piper muttered. Everyone was shell shocked at this point, but we don't have the time for grief now. The Earth herself, Gaia, has risen, and it's up to us to face it. I mustered every single of our forces and stood in front of the thousands of monsters that stood in front of us. Along with the survivors were us, Reyna, Thalia, some Roman and Greek campers, a few nature spirits and a few of the hunters of Artemis. There' couldn't be more than seventy of us, but it didn't matter. We looked weak that moment but at the time, we looked like the line of the bravest and the strongest demigods ever.

"So, it's just us," Reyna grimaced.

"What will you do now, demigods?" Gaia mused. "The Olympians haven't come to your aide, your forces are reduced to nothing and your only hope of survival is to surrender."

"What's it going to be, mortals?" Porphyrion bellowed, victory was obviously in his hands.

"Guys, I don't want to be insensitive or sentimental," I gripped Riptide tighter. "But it's been an honor fighting with you guys,"

Jason actually smirked. "Never fail to put a smile on our faces," Jason said as he tapped his sword with mine. "That's Percy for you."

"As a Roman," Reyna said with a smile etched in her face. "It was a privilege fighting with you guys,"

I stepped forward. "WE WILL FIGHT!" I shouted at Gaia. "WE WILL NOT SURRENDER!"

"Such brave efforts," Gaia said almost sympathetically. "Alas, to no avail,"

"YOU WANT SOME?" Jason shouted next to me. "COME GET SOME!"

"WE'LL TAKE YOU ON!" I shouted defiantly. The monsters roared in a mixture of disbelief and anger that they were challenged like that by a group of puny demigods.

"I've been meaning to ask you this," Annabeth muttered to Reyna. "But where's Nico?"

Suddenly, something appeared next to us. On cue, Nico popped out of the shadows panting. "Sorry, I was a bit late,"

"A bit late?" Piper stared at him incredulously.

"I was going back and forth, trying to get my dad to help out, but he locked himself in the palace and won't let me in," Nico said. "So, I decided this."

"What?" Jason asked.

"You know what, fuck the Ancient Laws." Nico said. He had his Stygian Iron sword at one hand, and the Diocletian scepter on the other. He smacked the scepter onto the ground. At first, nothing happened.

"That was anti-climatic," Annabeth grumbled. But then, the winds picked up and rippled across the battlefield. Gaia had a frown on her face while the monsters were getting restless. "What's going on?"

"All hell breaks loose," Nico muttered.

In the center of the battlefield, where the empty ground stood between us and the enemy, were thousands of humanoid figures, all armed and ready. They all looked alive and well instead of being ghostly like I would expect.

"What the-" I stared at Nico.

"I broke the Ancient Laws," Nico said. "These guys are from the Underworld. They're from Elysium, Asphodel, Fields of Punishment and several other places that I would not rather mention. I offered them one more chance to prove themselves in battle, and they will be re-judged by the time they return to the Underworld."

"That means . . ."

Nico nodded. "Luke, Beckendorf, Silena and everyone else is here. The ones that are in Elysium will stay in Elysium, so don't worry."

Porphyrion laughed, which caught all our attention. "You think an army of puny ghosts will stop us?" He bellowed. "You don't have a god on your side. We can't be stopped!"

Gaia regained her composure and stared at us with her earthly eyes (what does that mean?). "Your efforts are brave, but useless," Gaia said again. "Surrender now and I will spare your lives."

"Not in a million years," I said. Nico handed me the Diocletian scepter and nodded to me.

"You're our leader," Nico said. "They will listen to you. Lead us, Percy."

I nodded. I took a deep breath and stared at Gaia. "CHARGE!" I shouted.

That time, all Hades definitely broke loose.

The army of the Underworld clashed with the enemy forces, which creates a beautiful kind of chaos. For the first time since this battle started, the tides looked even.

Then, thunder rumbled in the distance and the earth shook violently. I thought it was Gaia again, making another earthquake, but she looked confused as well.

"STRIKE FOR OLYMPUS!" A godly voice roared. From the skies, massive lightning struck everywhere, disintegrating the bigger monsters. Descending from the clouds were the Olympians, all golden in color and radiated an aura of pure power. They rode their chariots, weapons at the ready and struck down every enemy they encountered. A look of disbelief was evident on the faces of the enemies. My friends and I marched forward with renewed force. We kept our line and marched through the enemy lines, slashing and hacking at the enemy. We were a line of pure destruction as we made our way towards Gaia.

Then, Porphyrion stood in front of us, blocking our path to Gaia.

"This is as far as you go, demigods." Porphyrion growled, his confident voice now missing.

"Go ahead, Percy," Jason said. "We'll take care of the Giants. Go kick Gaia's ass for me,"

I looked at the others to see them looking at me, letting me carrying their hope. They were counting on me to end this once and for all, to lead them to victory.

And I will not let them down. "See you when this is over," I said. Jason grinned as he struck Porphyrion first, followed by the others while I slipped past him and went straight towards Gaia.

"Ah, Perseus Jackson," Gaia said. "You never fail to amaze me,"

"I've beaten your son," I said with every bit of confidence that I could muster. "And now, I will beat you," Gaia smirked as she thrusts her hand at me. Earthen tendrils sprouted from her body and made their way towards me. I rolled out of the way and ducked under the tendrils, dodging everything.

Behind me, the battle raged on as I could hear the defiant roars of the enemy forces being defeated. Gaia's frown increased when her attacks never met me. I tried running forward, but one of the tendrils managed to strike me in the tight, piercing through the other side. I screamed in pain as the tendril got deeper and started to rotate inside my flesh, making it more and more painful. I somehow found the strength to slice the tendril off of my leg and pull it out with excruciating pain.

Gaia laughed. "How much suffering can you take young hero?" Gaia tried striking at me again and again, but each time she failed as I rolled out of the way. But then, she made a very quick tendril and at the time, I had nowhere to run to.

I guess this is it.

I closed my eyes as I waited for the impact to come, but it never did. I opened my eyes to see a barrier of black energy surrounding me and protecting me. Gaia growled.

"What is the meaning of this, sister?" Gaia growled.

Wait, sister?

Walking next to me, in a form which was as tall as me, was Nyx in a very different form. While the black dress, midnight hair and the celestial whip gave her out, her complexion changed. What was first a body consisting of stars, galaxies and everything else in the universe was now different, with the complexion of a normal human, but a bit pale.

If I didn't know that it was Nyx, I would've mistaken her for Artemis, without the auburn hair. "It's good to see you fully awake, sister,"

"Why are you interfering?"

Nyx glanced at me. "This young hero has my blessing. He has journeyed through the realm of our brother and survived, and even survived through my mansion." Then, she turned back towards Gaia. "Either you stand down, or face him with my blessing,"

Gaia gritted her teeth. "Go ahead, give him your powers. Even if his mortal body could handle the power, it wouldn't be enough to beat me. I am at my full power after thousands of years. I am unstoppable!"

"Shut up!" I roared. I struggled as I stand up with the pain burning in my leg. "I'm still going to bring you down, no matter what!"

"Admirable courage," Nyx said. "You would do well with my powers," Nyx touched my forehead with her index finger.

What I felt couldn't be described even if I tried it multiple times.

Imagine a stream of boiling Styx water being injected into your bloodstream and it moves a thousand times faster, injecting pain inside your body, every inch of it.

Then multiply that by fifty.

That's not even half the pain compared to receiving a blessing from a primordial. When the pain subsided and my vision cleared, I felt a rush of adrenaline course through my body. New found powers are circling inside me. Without even thinking, I instinctively used my new powers from Nyx and flew, leaving something that looked like a trail of black light as I flew. Gaia roared and tried attacking me, but I flew through her attacks swiftly. Then, I dove straight towards her, Riptide on the ready.

"You cannot beat me!" Gaia roared.

"JUST DIE!" I shouted and drove my sword straight into her forehead. At first, it felt like I hit a concrete wall as the pain jolt up through my body, all the way to my leg. I yelled in defiance and channeled all my power into this. Faces flooded my head. The faces of my friends who were killed in this war, my mother and stepfather, Paul, and the face of Annabeth popped into my mind one by one. The people who will die if I don't do this, the people that are counting on me.

With one last yell, black flames rolled over from my hand and travelled through Riptide and went towards Gaia's skin. Her skin cracked as Riptide pierced through it, and I came out from the other side of her head. After gaining so much momentum from that, I couldn't slow down my descent and crashed onto the ground hard.

Gaia didn't let out a single sound as she slowly crumbled back into dust.

She's going back to sleep.

My body was in so much pain that it wasn't even funny. I groaned in pain as I coughed up some blood. I relaxed my body, not caring if anyone came and stab me. "Nap time for you, bitch," I muttered to the earth. I heard the Olympians cheer as their enemies retreat after knowing Gaia had been defeated.

"Percy!" I heard Annabeth said but to me, it was like she was speaking underwater. My vision started to get fuzzy and my hearing was getting blurry. "Oh gods, are you okay?"

"I'm going to need a five-star treatment after this," I groaned. Annabeth cried out tears of joy and crashed her lips against mine. Even though I was in pain, I kissed her anyway. Our battle is finally over. Annabeth poured some nectar into my mouth. It instantly made me feel a bit better, but I still felt like I took a dip in boiling acid.

"Perseus Jackson," A female voice said behind me. Annabeth and I turned around to see Nyx there, standing in a normal form so that she wasn't covering the sun above us.

"Lady Night," I said. Although I wasn't a huge fan of her, I can't say no to her. She just helped me beat Gaia, although I don't know why.

"Nyx," Annabeth growled. "What are you doing here?" I put one hand on her shoulder, giving her a look that said, _stand down, I got this_. Annebeth looked reluctant, but she backed down anyway.

"I thank you for helping me in my battle against Gaia," I said towards her.

"While I don't fancy you two demigods for tricking me," Nyx said, talking about the little 'incident' back in Tartarus. "I must say you have earned my respect. Use my blessing wisely, Perseus. You might need it again," With that, she dissolved into her own shadow.

"What does she mean?" Annabeth asked.

"We'll talk later," I said, groaning at the pain in my body.

Then, I felt myself being transported away. Seconds later, I was back in Olympus, in the middle of the throne room. When I looked around, the previous group of demigods that was dozens in number had dropped down to a mere half a dozen. Nico, Reyna, Jason, Piper, Thalia, Annabeth and I are the only ones left from the war.

It was such a sad sight. The others were also holding back their sadness of their fallen comrades.

"Percy Jackson," Zeus announced. I looked around to see the Olympian councils staring at me. "You have done well in defeating Gaia. Something that hasn't been achieved by any mortal ever before."

The Olympians cheered, pounded their weapons together. Anger started to swell up in my chest. "For this, demigods," Hera said. "We will grant you a gift,"

"Fuck you and your gifts!" I shouted back, which was somehow a mistake because pain jolted up in my throat. My legs were shaky as I stand up and my whole body trembled.

"Excuse me?" Zeus asked, as if he had misheard.

Oh, he didn't.

"Where were you?" I glared at every single Olympians. The anger and sadness building up inside me was bursting open. "When we were there, in trouble and needed help, WHERE WERE YOU?!"

Surprisingly, the gods paled. "It was our strategy," Zeus said. "We were waiting for Gaia to show herself before we strike her down and-"

"That is bullshit!" I shouted back. "You could've helped! If you're giving me bullshit about some Ancient Law, then fuck you guys! Nico broke the Ancient Law because he has more guts than any of you combined!"

"How dare you raise your voice-" Hera tried but I cut her off.

"How dare me?" I asked incredulously. "How dare all of you cheered, when so many of our friends, which happens to be your fucking children, died!"

Then, Jason stepped forward. "I'm with Percy on this one," He said. "You Olympians don't deserve the victory."

"I stand by my friends in this one," Reyna said, followed by Piper, Nico and Thalia. All of us were beat up, tired and needed a shower but we didn't care.

"You dare to stand against the Olympian council?" Zeus bellowed.

"Make a move, and I swear on my life," I said, gripping Riptide tighter. "I will destroy anyone who tries to kill any of us." My friends had their weapons drawn. Annabeth laced her fingers with mine as we make a stand for what possibly could be our final fight.

"I want to ask you something, Athena," Annabeth said. "Did you think what you did was a wise choice? Letting your children die as they fight a war which was supposed to be fought by you?"

"I-It was a, um . . ."

"That's what I thought,"

I held Riptide in one hand and surprisingly, the Diocletian scepter in the other. "I have no quarrel against you," I announced. "But dare you show my face around any of us again, it won't be a pleasant encounter. Think about the great heroes you left to die in Greece. As if they wanted to die for Olympus. They died defending the world, not defend you."

"My son," Poseidon tried. "If you would just listen to-"

"No, _dad_," It sounded like the most disgusting word I ever said. "I will not listen and I will not stand by Olympus ever again. I will hide myself from the world, where you will not try to search for me. Even if you do, you won't find me."

"How dare you step away from Olympus!" Zeus rumbled. "Do you know who you're talking to?"

"The god of huge egos," I said. "And you're currently facing seven demigods who are tired and in a really bad mood."

"This will be written down in history," Jason said. "Both in Greek and Roman, the day where Olympus abandoned their heroes,"

"You can change the history if you want," I said. "But you can't change what happened. Remember what you've done today, Olympus."

Zeus growled as his royal nostrils flared. "Send him to Tartarus!" He shouted. I was the first to act as he deflected an arrow from Artemis, then a blast of laser beam from Hermes.

I pulled Annabeth closer. "Get out of here," I whispered. "Don't look back, just run,"

"What are you going to do?" Annabeth asked.

"I love you," I whispered as I kissed her one last time. I knew what was going to happen, and I knew that if I keep them here longer, they're going to share the same fate I will.

"Percy, what are you planning?" Annabeth asked, demanding for an answer.

"Go, now!" I shouted back at them. Jason was the first to act as he dragged Annabeth back. "Jason, please, take care of her. Keep her safe, please," Jason looked reluctant because he also wanted to stay. Everyone was arguing that they wanted to stay and help. "Go, carry on my legacy. Be the greatest heroes you can ever be."

Jason looked like he wanted to cry. Then, he stepped closer and gripped the collars of my already tattered shirt. "You better come back," He growled. "Let's go!" He said to the others. Annabeth struggled, but eventually, Jason managed to pull her out of the throne room. I turned around and faced the angry Olympians that were glaring at me.

"I'm not going to back down without a fight," I growled at them.

"So be it," Zeus growled back. He fired a blast of his own master bolt, but Percy deflected the blow. Riptide was now pulsing with black light and I don't know why.

**Third Person POV**

As Jason led the others away from the throne room, Annabeth tried so hard to make him turn around. "Please, we have to help him!"

Jason shook his head. "It's hard for me too, Annabeth," Jason admitted. "But we have to trust in him. He trusted me to get you guys out of here,"

"But we have to-"

"Annabeth, listen," Thalia said. "We need to go now. Percy will come back for us. I know he will,"

Then, they heard Percy's voice that erupted all across Olympus. "COME ON! BRING IT ON OLYMPUS!"

Percy was fighting against the gods themselves, another one of the things to check in his bucket of to-do list. Zeus fired his master bolt at Percy repeatedly, trying to end his life but for a guy who'd fought Gaia and lived, he's still moving pretty quickly. Nyx watched Percy with intent, to see if he really is the champion that she's looking for.

The Diocletian scepter was also pulsing with black light. Eventually, Zeus's attack got too overwhelming that he didn't see the two arrows moved from left and right, one striking his already injured leg and the other grazed him in the ribs. Percy howled in pain as he dropped down to one knee. Without giving him a second, Zeus fired a blast of thunderbolt straight into his chest. He flew backwards and crumpled in a heap on the throne room.

"So much for defeating Gaia," Apollo said. "I guess we're stronger,"

Then, Percy moved and had the nerve to chuckle. "That's your ego talking," Percy muttered. "You're stronger than Gaia? Please don't make me laugh," Percy's legs trembled as he stood up shakily. His face was bloody and his body was smoking.

"How is he alive?" Zeus asked, clearly in disbelief.

"I'll take care of it," Ares said smugly as he shrank down to human size and walked straight towards Percy. "Time for you to die, kid," Ares materialized a sword out of thin air and tried to stab him, but Percy used every bit of strength remaining and gripped the blade of his sword, cutting his hand in the process. Ares tried to move his sword, but Percy had an iron grip on it. Then, he clenched his fist tighter and shattered the blade. Ares looked at him in shock. "That was Celestial Bronze," He muttered.

"Kill me, and I might come back and haunt you guys," Percy looked at the Olympians with distaste.

"Bound him!" Zeus ordered. "Then drag him to Tartarus!"

Bronze and gold chains latched themselves around Percy's wrists and ankles in an instant. Percy looked at them with murderous eyes. "I'm coming back." He sent the Olympians one last message as he was teleported to Tartarus.

His punishment was to be chained to a rock, both arms and legs, and is unable to move too far. Any monsters in Tartarus will be able to smell him and attack him at will, and he will be left defenseless but unable to die.

Talk about an eternity of suffering.

But back in Olympus, things were restless. The hearth didn't even conjure up a fire as Hestia was mad at what the Olympians did. It was an unsettling night at Olympus. Not because they'd won against Gaia or because they lost their children.

With Percy Jackson's imprisonment, they were afraid that all they did was wake up a sleeping giant.

**Six Years Later . . .**

The group of six demigods was in a search and rescue mission for a demigod in trouble. While they hold a hatred for the Olympians, their kids didn't deserve it. They try to help the demigods in every way possible, both Roman and Greek. They will send them to Camp Half-Blood every time they found a demigod. Since both camps suffered great losses, they had united their camps, living together in harmony at Long Island to keep each other company. They even made it possible for demigods to live in peace and for generations in Camp Half-Blood.

But despite all that, they couldn't go back there. Not after what happened.

So here they were, in front of a house, trying to get a demigod out.

"So, who's going in first?" Nico asked.

"I've already scouted the house," Annabeth said. "So, it's up to you guys,"

"Why do you always get easy job?" Nico whined.

"Because I'm not always late when we have our meeting," Annabeth smirked. "So, who's going in first?"

"I'll go," Jason said. "Sis, you'll back me up. Anything else happen, bust in like you're FBI."

"Sounds like a plan," Reyna said.

Jason crept up slowly towards the front door with Thalia tailing behind him. Inside, they heard what sounded like glass shattering and something crashing down hard.

"Get back here!" A man shouted. There was a sound of a child crying and footsteps running all over the house.

"So, how are we going to play this?" Jason asked.

"The usual," Thalia said. "Kick the door down, beat the dude's ass and get out with the child," Jason grinned as he stood up and kicked the door down with all his might. Instead of busting open, the door shattered into pieces. "When I said kick the door down, I didn't mean shred it to pieces," Thalia grumbled.

"Sorry," Jason shrugged. Then, they saw a huge dude with his belly flopping as he run. He had was bald and reeked of the most revolting scent Thalia had ever smelled.

"Oh gods," Thalia gagged. "I'm gonna throw up,"

"Who are you?" The man growled.

"Listen," Jason said. "We just want the kid, so we can do this the easy way, the hard way or the very extremely painful way," In response, the man roared and ran towards Jason. "I was hoping for that." As the man ran, Jason used his momentum to throw him to the sidewalk, where the others were waiting.

"What is that ungodly smell?" Reyna said.

"Don't ask," Jason said. "Take care of him, will you? Come on Pipes, I need your help in this,"

"Sure," Piper said as she walked into the house with Jason. Jason searched for the demigod that they were here for, but he couldn't find the child.

"Sneaky little kid," Jason said. "It's probably Hermes's kid,"

"Come on kid," Piper shouted with her charmspeak. "We're not going to harm you,"

Then, from the table next to Jason, the kid crawled out, making Jason jump. "Geez kid, you scared me,"

Piper chuckled. "What's your name, kiddo?" Piper asked.

"Theo," The kid said quietly. "Promise you're not going to hurt me?"

"Promise," Piper said. "Are you hurt?" The kid shook his head.

"He never got his hands around me," Theo said with a hint of smug in his voice. "I always get away,"

"Definitely a Hermes kid," Piper grinned, agreeing with Jason. "Listen, we're going to send you back to a place with people that are just like you," Piper explained. "There will be some people that would greet you when you get there. You should follow them. They're just like you, you know,"

"You mean they're always escaping from people?" Theo asked. Piper chuckled.

"I mean that they're special like you. You will know when you get there. We can't follow you there, but we can send you there. Now, promise me you'll be a good person when you get there, okay?"

Theo nodded giddily. "Will I see you again?"

"Of course," Piper smiled at him. "Now, close your eyes. You will feel a bit weird, but there's nothing to fear. In ten seconds, then you open your eyes again," Theo nodded as he closed his eyes. It was something that Piper picked up when they encountered some children of Hecate. She muttered a few words in Ancient Greek that was meant to teleport them back to Camp Half-Blood. After the chant was done, Theo was enveloped in white light before he was transported somewhere else.

"You know, if they're eager to see you again, I might get jealous," Jason said. Piper chuckled as she wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss.

"We're engaged, Jason," Piper said. "There's no need for you to be jealous. I'm yours forever, remember?"

In the front door, someone cleared their throat. They turned around to see Nico. "You done, lovebirds?"

Jason chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, let's head back."

**Line Break**

Back at their apartment, they gathered near the TV and just had the time of their lives. Casual chats and jokes around, anything to feel like they were normal teenagers again. During the six years, they actually worked normal jobs and rescuing demigods at the same time, just so they could continue on with their lives normally. They would receive signs from the gods from time to time, like a massive bolt of lightning, a tidal wave at where they were working at or snakes suddenly in your mail, but they did their best to live through it.

"Hey guys," Annabeth said. Everyone turned their heads towards her. "It's Percy's birthday today,"

They only managed to smile sadly. The first few years of dealing with his 'disappearance' had been rough, but they got over it. They were still searching for him thought, searching for any sign of what happened to him, but so far they found nothing. For six years, they never forgot about him. They believed that he was still alive, only being kept somewhere else by the gods.

"To Percy," Jason held up his glass of coke, "The greatest man I ever knew," The others followed and raised their glass for him. Then, there was a knock on their door.

"I'll get it," Nico said. He went towards the door and swung it open. He gasped. "Lady Hestia,"

"Nico di Angelo," Hestia smiled at him. "It's nice to see you again,"

"Who is it, Nico?" Thalia asked.

"Um,"

"Can I come in?" Hestia asked.

"Sure," Nico invited her in. Hestia were the few immortals that they could tolerate with, simply because they were too kind and never did anything wrong, unlike certain Olympians.

When the others noticed her, they immediately bowed. "Lady Hestia," Jason said. "What do we owe you with the pleasure of your visit?"

"There's no need for that, heroes," Hestia said. "But I believe that we need to talk,"

"Is there something wrong?" Annabeth asked.

"This concerns all of you and your friend, Percy," Hestia said. At the mention of Percy, their ears picked up.

"Do you know where he is?" Jason asked.

"I used to," Hestia said. "The gods chained him in Tartarus. I would've told you sooner if I could, but then they will punish you for it."

Annabeth's knees buckled. She was on the verge of crying. Percy and Annabeth had barely survived Tartarus, and that was only for a few days. If Percy had been in there for six years . . . She'll be surprised if he was even alive. Piper tried comforting her, but even he was in a state of shock.

"What happened?" Reyna asked.

"He escaped," Hestia said. "Right now, the gods are on a manhunt, trying to find Percy, but they could barely track him down."

"So, you're telling me,"

Hestia nodded. "He's alive, and he might be looking for you."

**Line Break**

Six, freaking, years.

That was how long Percy was trapped in that hell hole. With every moment that passed by, he was beat up, tortured and maimed by the monsters there. He couldn't die in Tartarus, so it was that much more painful. But every second that passed, Percy never stopped thinking about Annabeth. The very thought of her was what keeping him alive.

He wanted nothing more than to return to her and tell her how much he loved her. He never knew if Annabeth and the others made it out safely, but if he found out that Annabeth is dead, he was going to be seriously pissed.

One day, on August eighteenth, after six years, Percy found the chance he needed.

Either it was the sulfurous air of Tartarus, or just really crappy chains but either way, the chains bounding Percy got weaker. Using Nyx's blessing, Percy tried flying out to break the chains. The chain rattled as he tried to break free, but to no avail. He wasn't as strong as he was because of the constant attacks that he had.

With one final effort, he screamed with a voice that could be heard all across Tartarus. The chains snapped after six years and Percy immediately flew out of Tartarus.

He was finally free.

Percy got to the outside world and surprisingly, popped out in New York. He never knew that some of the sewers held the entrance to Tartarus, but hey, it's New York.

Even if it was the sewers, Percy felt good being back in the world. After seeing nothing but horrific rocky plains of Tartarus for the past six years, seeing the modern city came as a surprise to Percy.

"Annabeth, I'm coming," Percy muttered. "Nyx, if you're out there somewhere, help me out."

Percy heard a chuckle echoing in his head. _Is the Hero of Olympus asking for my help?_

The title 'Hero of Olympus' brought a bad taste to his mouth. "Yeah, yeah," Percy muttered back to Nyx. "Can you help me?"

_Only if you ask nicely, _Nyx said in my head. I rolled my eyes.

"Can you _please _help me find her?" Percy said. If he hadn't known any better, he'll think that he's going crazy, talking to himself in the sewers.

In fact, he might be crazy.

_Aw, that's sweet of you, _Nyx said. Percy never knew that there was this side of Nyx, but then again, there's always a first for everything. _If you get out of the sewers, you'll probably find her._

"You're gonna have to be more specific than that," Percy grumbled. "Maybe a map or even a GPS location would be helpful." Percy made his way out of the sewers. With his luck, people would see him as a homeless beggar from the underground world of New York. It's not like that's something uncommon, but Percy would've prefer a more amazing approach.

_In ten seconds, you will see a hellhound barreling towards you in front of you, _Nyx said. _Then, you will meet her._

"Are you for real?" Percy said. On cue, Percy saw a black mass of fur the size of a truck running towards him, jaws at the ready to eat him. The hellhound was really big.

_It might be eight or five seconds, who knows, _Nyx said. Percy rolled his eyes as he uncapped Riptide. After six years of staying out of combat, he didn't expect the hellhound to be an easy fight. But Percy took it down easily as he slashed at the snout of the canine and it recoiled back. The hellhound snarled at Percy, circling him. He didn't know why there were no cars swerving around the road or no one was screaming for help, but Percy wasn't paying too much attention to it. The hellhound pounced at him. Percy rolled out of the way and made an upward arc towards its ribs. The monster howled in pain as it crumbled into golden dust.

"Huh," Percy muttered. "I thought that would be harder,"

_It would be if I hadn't been helping you, _Nyx said.

"Percy?" A voice said behind him. He turned around to see his old friends, all good and in one piece. What brought joy to his heart the most was Annabeth, and how good she looked. It felt like millions of years since he'd last saw her.

"Hey," Percy managed and gave them one of his most famous grin. Annabeth didn't say much as she surged forward and wrapped her arms around Percy tightly. Percy hugged her back. It's been a while since Percy had felt this happy. Tears of joy were evident in his face. The others also went over and embraced their long lost friend. "I came back, didn't I?"

"You're late," Annabeth said, barely holding back her tears. "But at least you did came back,"

"Way to go, Kelp Head," Thalia grinned. She was also in tears.

"Well, we'll talk about that later," Jason said. "We need to head home first, and Percy smells like he had been travelling in the sewers.

**A/N: Please, no flames. It's unlike anything I've ever written before, so it might suck. I don't freaking know. It was a pretty intense first chapter, that I gotta say. Don't worry, the plot will be laid out in the next one. Consider this my version of how Blood Of Olympus ended (though I haven't read the book yet, so no spoilers please!). It should summarise everything well though. So, leave a review if you liked or hate it, like I said a review always helps. Until then, take care.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The group gathered inside their private apartment where they usually are but this time with Percy. After a very long and hot bath, Percy had never been so refreshed in the past six years. They gathered around the living room and for the first time since a long time, the group actually enjoyed themselves.

Annabeth cuddled next to Percy, taking in his scent since a long time and enjoying the warmth that only him can produce. It may sound weird, but it's definitely true.

"So, Percy," Jason said. "Not to be rude or anything, but, um, what happened?"

Percy smiled a small smile. Everyone immediately made a mental note that this was a sensitive subject for him and they shouldn't prod any more than they should have. "I guess I should start about what, six years ago?" They all nodded. "When I told you guys to run away from them, I fought with the Olympians for a few minutes before I was sent to Tartarus. I was chained to the rocks, where the monsters or could attack me at will and I couldn't do a thing to defend myself."

The thought of that made everyone sad and angry. Percy noticed their change of expression and grinned. "It was nothing. I'm fine now,"

"How did you escape?" Nico asked.

"Well, that's the hard part," Percy scratched the back of his head. "When I was fighting Gaia, she kinda gave me her blessing so I could beat her sister. I guess even Celestial Bronze chains would be weakened in a place like Tartarus."

They stared at him, as if he just said, _I killed Obama_.

"Um, why?" Reyna asked.

"Why what?"

"Why did she give you her blessing?"

Percy shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. Annabeth and I tricked her once in Tartarus, and I thought she would feel bitter about that. It's still a surprise that she hadn't killed me once she saw me."

_I thought about it, _Nyx answered in his head. _But then I decided I didn't want to stain my hand with your blood._

"Shut up," Percy muttered.

"Excuse me?" Annabeth asked.

"Oh, uh, sorry," Percy said. "With Nyx's blessing, her voice is always in my head."

"Huh," Jason summed up. "That's weird."

"Well, enough talking," Percy grinned again. "I'm finally back, and it feels good."

**Line Break**

That night, Percy stayed up because he didn't feel like sleeping. After being tortured for six years, you'd thought Percy would sleep the fuck out of the freedom he earned. Somehow, he didn't feel like it. Maybe its Nyx's blessing, since she's the Primordial of the Night.

"Hey," A voice said behind him. Percy turned around to see Annabeth in a nightgown. No matter how many times Percy looked at her, she always manages to catch him by surprise. Annabeth chuckled when she saw Percy's expression. "I could fit my whole hand into your mouth." Percy shook his head and chuckled.

"Sorry," Percy said. "It's just that, you look stunning. After not seeing you for a long time, finally seeing you was surprising."

Annabeth embraced Percy. With the moonlight being their only source of light, Percy kissed Annabeth's forehead softly. Annabeth actually sobbed into his chest.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked.

"I missed you," Annabeth said, letting out the bottled up emotion inside that has been in there since he'd left her. "I missed you so much," Annabeth gripped his shirt tighter, as if she was afraid that Percy might leave again. "You promised that we won't be separated ever again,"

"I'm sorry, Annabeth," Percy muttered softly. He held her chin with two fingers and lifted them up slightly, so Percy would have a better view of her face. The tears on her cheeks were evident and Percy wiped them away. "I'm sorry I left you,"

Annabeth shook her head and smiled. She cupped her hand on Percy's cheek. "I'll forgive you, only if you promise you won't do it again. I can't lose you, Percy. Not after what we've been through,"

Percy smiled. "I'm sorry," Percy muttered and kissed her on the lips. It was one of the greatest feelings ever for both of them. That short moment where their lips met was one of the blissful moments they'd ever felt. When they finally separated, Annabeth smiled.

"Thank you, for coming back," Annabeth said. Percy shook his head.

"It's you who I have to thank," Percy smiled. "Without you, I would've been dead. The reason I stayed alive, is because of you. You kept me alive."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "As if you could do things by yourself,"

"I can, if I put my mind into it."

"As if,"

"Is that a challenge, Ms Chase?" Percy raised an eyebrow. Annabeth stuck a tongue out at him. Percy grinned as he snapped his fingers. It came in naturally and he only felt like doing it, but the city got a bit dimmer, revealing more stars in the sky, making it more beautiful. Annabeth stared at the night skies, which was wonderful.

"Fine, you win," Annabeth muttered. Percy chuckled and kissed her again.

"Go get some sleep," Percy said.

"Not without you," Annabeth argued.

Percy stared at her. Six years ago, Percy would never think she'll say something like that. But then, she's seventeen. But now, she's matured into an adult. Thoughts like that should've been normal for her. The fact of her sleeping with a man was-

"Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth called, jarring Percy back to reality.

"Hmm?" Percy answered. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"I said, do you wanna sleep with me?"

Percy blushed. "Are you sure it's fine? I mean, I don't want to, um, you know, make you uncomfortable."

Annabeth actually laughed. "We're adults, Percy. I think it wouldn't be a problem, as long as we don't do anything suspicious."

Percy raised an eyebrow, but he didn't argue much. He followed Annabeth to her bedroom, where they lie down on the bed together. Annabeth looked at him and whispered in his ears.

"Happy birthday, Percy," Annabeth smiled at him.

"Was it today?" Percy scratched his head.

Annabeth rolled his eyes. "Yes, it was today. How come you don't remember your own birthday?"

"Well, there's not exactly a clock in Tartarus, you know?"

Annabeth shook her head and smiled at him again. "Well, happy birthday."

"Thank you, Wise Girl."

**Line Break**

"So, what do you do every day?" Percy asked in the morning. The only ones awake were him, Jason and Reyna.

"Well, we sometimes receive messages from Chiron and help him bring a demigod back to Camp Half-Blood," Jason answered.

"Or back to Camp Jupiter," Reyna added.

"Yeah, well, sometimes we will go to a search and rescue mission. Search for any stray demigods and bring them back to safety." Jason said. "Other than that, well, we try to live our lives as normally as possible."

"You can do that?"

"As we get older, we learned that our demigod scent gets weaker," Reyna explained. "We can go to work easily,"

"Wait, work?" Percy asked. "You mean, like, jobs?"

"Yeah," Jason rolled his eyes. "I mean, we have to find food somehow,"

"Huh, must've been rough," Percy said.

"Says the dude who spent the last six years in Tartarus,"

"Touché," Percy grinned. "So, all of you work?"

"Well, technically yeah. But Annabeth doesn't leave the house, since she's an architect and she does her work at home. Piper's a home designer and shares her ideas with Annabeth."

"Huh," Percy said. "I guess I should do the same thing,"

"There's no need to pressure yourself," Reyna said with a smile. "You've just gotten back."

"She's right," Jason agreed. "You should get used to the world."

"Morning," Another voice said. Percy turned around to see Annabeth. She wore a white buttoned shirt that looked a bit familiar to Percy. She grinned at Percy with her messed up blonde hair which made her look somewhat more beautiful.

"Isn't that . . ."

Annabeth blushed. "Hey, you can't judge me. I missed you, you know?"

"Annabeth decided to take your clothes with her when you were missing," Reyna teased with a smirk. "She starts wearing them every morning." Annabeth blushed even more. Percy laughed and pinched Annabeth's nose.

"I think that's cute," Percy said.

"I see that everybody's up," Piper said as she arrived in the kitchen. Percy made the obvious observation of the necklace that hung around Piper's neck. It had a silver ring attached to it. Percy glanced at Jason's finger to see an identical ring around his finger.

"So, when are you planning to tell me?" Percy asked Jason.

Jason looked confused. "Tell you what?"

"The silver thing wrapped around your finger," Percy smirked. Jason chuckled while Piper just blushed.

"Well, Piper and I got engaged," Jason admitted with a smile. "Though we haven't decided on a date of when we got married."

"Congratulations to both of you," Percy said with a grin.

**Line Break**

After they'd gotten ready, Jason, Thalia, Reyna and Nico went off to work, while Percy, Annabeth and Piper stayed at the apartment. Like Reyna said, he shouldn't be pushing himself too hard after just getting back from Tartarus.

Besides, he wanted to spend some time with Annabeth.

_I never really liked the sun, _Nyx grumbled in his head. _It was my daughter's creation._

"Your daughter?" Percy asked as he leaned over the railing of the balcony. "You mean, Hemera?"

_You're not as dumb as I thought, _Nyx said. If she'd been here, Percy was sure she was smirking. He just rolled his eyes. _And yeah, the sun was Hemera's creation, being the primordial of the day._

"Never knew that. Why are you such bitter rivals with her anyway?"

Nyx groaned. _I take back what I said. You are as dumb as I thought. I'm Nyx, Primordial of the Night. She's Hemera, Primordial of the Day. You see why it's a problem._

"Oh," Percy managed. Then in the middle of the day, thunder cracked loudly as the clouds begin to darken. "Someone's pissed,"

Nyx faked a yawn. _What can I say? Gods have a bigger egos than their dick, which isn't saying much._

"You're gross," Percy said. Nyx just chuckled.

"Percy," Annabeth came up next to him. "Is it raining?"

"Nah," Percy waved the dark clouds surging above them. "The gods are just angry."

"You don't seem scared," Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"What more can they do to me? They already chained me up to Tartarus, so what more can they do?"

To answer his question, a single thunder boomed so loudly that it made the floor rumble, but Percy wasn't scared a bit. "Percy, let's go inside. I'm not feeling comfortable out here."

"Yeah, sure," Percy said as he stepped inside the apartment.

_Careful, Percy,_ Nyx warned. _You'll be in trouble if you don't watch what you're saying._

"Shut up," Percy grumbled.

"What was that?" Annabeth asked.

"Uh, sorry. I was talking to Nyx," Percy explained. "Don't worry, she only gets annoying at certain times."

_Oh, I can be annoying all the time,_

"Shut up!"

"You look crazy doing that," Annabeth chuckled. Percy smiled at her and gave a kiss to her forehead.

"What are you doing?"

"I was just putting some finishing touches to my building design." Annabeth said. "I got a job of designing a building next to the Empire State Building. Piper was helping me out with the interior designs."

"Sounds amazing," Percy said.

"I see you lovebirds are catching up with each other already," A voice said behind them. Percy whirled around so quickly that no one had time to react. He used Nyx's blessing and conjured up a blade from his hand made out of dark energy. Percy aimed the blade at the throat of the goddess he hadn't seen in years.

"Who would've thought that you'd be here," Percy said without pleasure. "Why are you here?"

Artemis smirked. "I've come to bring you back to Olympus, Percy."

"Well, you can go ahead and kiss my ass," Percy snarled. "I'm not going back to that forsaken place."

Artemis glared at Percy. "You will go with me, or I will have my hunters kill your other friends,"

Annabeth realized what she was talking about. "Threatening other people's life just so you can complete your task? That's low, Artemis," Annabeth said as she glared back at her.

"Do not interfere, daughter of Athena," Artemis growled. "I have no intention of speaking with you."

"And you don't get to talk to my friends like that," Piper said. She suddenly appeared next to Artemis with a 9mm Glock pistol aimed at Artemis's head.

Artemis smirked as she turned towards Piper, the gun now pointing at her forehead. "I'm immortal, demigod. You can't harm me with those bullets."

Piper smiled sweetly. She threw a bullet at Artemis, who caught it. "Check again, _immortal_," Artemis examined the bullet closer and gritted her teeth. "That's Celestial Bronze. Although it won't kill you, but I doubt it would feel too good."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Artemis managed a smirk. "I have your friends surrounded by my hunters. By my orders, your friends will be dead in a second."

"Nah, they'll be fine," Piper said, countering Artemis's smirk with her own.

"Piper, what are you doing?" Annabeth asked.

"Trust me,"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Artemis asked. Piper shrugged and shot at Artemis's thigh. She yowled in pain and collapsed to the floor as ichor started to flow out from her wound Piper wasn't kidding when she said that the bullets were Celestial Bronze.

"You'll pay for this!" Artemis snarled. She started to glow with golden light. Percy and the others managed to avert their eyes just in time to avoid getting incinerated.

"That was annoying," Piper said as she put the gun away.

"What about Jason and the others?" Percy asked.

"Don't worry, they're fine," Piper said. She waved her hand in front of her and mist started to form from where she waved her hand at. From the mist, projected images came into view. They showed Jason and the others, all in their workplace and doing their work peacefully. They didn't seem to be in any harm or danger.

"Wait, was Artemis's threat a bluff?" Percy asked.

Piper nodded. "Knowing about your flaw to your friends, she probably thought she could bring you to Olympus with a threat concerning your friends. I checked them out and as it turns out; it really was a bluff,"

Annabeth sighed in relief. "Thanks, Pipes. You saved us."

"How did you know how to do all that stuff?" Percy asked. "The mist and image showing thing,"

"I picked up some tricks when we were with some children of Hecate," Piper explained. "I can't do some advanced magic, since I'm not a natural, but I can do simple magic like that."

"That is totally awesome," Percy muttered.

"Says the one who got blessed by Nyx,"

_She has a point,_ Nyx said in his head. Percy rolled her eyes.

"Well, thanks for saving our asses," Percy said. Then, thunder cracked loudly at the far distance. "I guess someone's not too happy,"

"I wouldn't be if my daughter got harmed by a lower life form," Annabeth said. Immediately, Percy blushed. He didn't know why, but he blushed. The thought about Annabeth having a daughter, or even a child, was making him blush.

"Yeah, that would be bad," Percy managed. "

"I'm sensing some blushing," Piper grinned at Percy. "The talk of having a kid got you worked up, Percy?"

"Shut up!" Percy argued. This time, Annabeth blushed. Her, having a kid with Percy? It was so disturbing that Annabeth pushed it outside of her head, while Piper just laughed.

"Just so you know," Piper walked up to Percy and leaned to his ear. "Annabeth's been saving herself for you,"

"Don't you have some kind of work to do?" Percy muttered. Piper just laughed and went back to her room.

"What did she say?" Annabeth asked.

"Um, nothing,"

"Seaweed Brain, tell me,"

"Can we talk about this later?" Percy asked. Another thunder boomed. "When there're no crazy immortals trying to kill us?"

Annabeth seemed reluctant, but she nodded. "Sure,"

Percy sighed in relief. But then, his demigod senses just put a massive sign across his brain that says 'DANGER! SHIT ABOUT TO HIT THE FAN!'

Immediately, Percy pushed Annabeth out of the way as a massive cannonball rammed into the apartment, obviously aimed at Percy and narrowly missing Annabeth. Percy got hit by the cannonball, which was a whole lot bigger than the apartment itself, and was sent flying at least a few hundred meters before he slammed roughly to the pavement, where the cars started to swerve around.

He didn't know how or why, but he survived getting hit by the giant meatball. Percy groaned as he sat up. His body was sore and in pain, but other than that, he was fine. No broken bones, no shattered teeth, no anything. Miraculously, he was fine.

"Surrender now, Perseus!" Zeus's voice boomed. Percy looked closely to see him standing on top of another building, probably a few hundred yards away, with a massive cannon next to him.

"For fuck's sake you asshole!" Percy shouted back. The others looked at him like he was crazy. "Was that really necessary? I could've broken my nail, you know?"

"Surrender now or I will make sure I break every bone in your body!" Zeus roared.

"I think I'll pass," Percy waved him off. Then he carried the massive cannonball again. Nyx's blessing had helped him _a lot_. Well, he had carried something far heavier than this. Like the weight of the sky, for example. "And you can have this back!" Percy threw the cannonball back at Zeus. It got struck down by a massive lightning and shattered to a million pieces.

"So be it," Zeus grumbled. "Seize him!"

In a few seconds, a bunch of minor gods and goddesses popped up, armed with armors, weapons and a bunch of stuff to make them all look badass. To Percy, they looked retarded.

"Wow, you guys are going overkill with the preparations," Percy muttered. "Any help?"

_Only if you say please, _Nyx said.

The first minor god lunged at him with his axe was ready for the kill. Percy rolled sideways from the axe and swept the god's leg from underneath him. Another god tried to attack him from behind, but Percy realized it and spun around. As the blade of the sword descended to Percy's head, he used that moment to jerk sideways and push the flat of the blade away from him with his palm. He followed up with a massive kick onto the god's head.

"There's no time for this!" Percy said. "Help me out here,"

_Nuh uh, _Nyx insisted. _Say the magic word,_

Percy ducked under the swing of the axe from the first god and punches him straight in the opening of his helmet. He staggered backwards as ichor flowed down his nose. Percy jumped up and made a dropkick onto his chest, shattering his breastplate.

"Please?!" Percy said with annoyance.

_Not the best 'please' I've heard in my immortal life, _Nyx grumbled.

"Nyx!" Percy shouted.

_Fine, _Nyx said. _This'll help._

Percy heard the sound of snapping fingers. A sword materialized in his hand. The sword had a black handle that was connected to a hand guard that drops down to one side. The dual sided blade was completely black and straight and was outlined with grey light. The sword was black as midnight and if possible, felt more balanced than Riptide, which had been confiscated by the Olympians.

"Thanks," Percy muttered. Now, he could fight easily. He felt bad about wounding the gods though, but he had no choice. Percy parried a spear from an attack goddess and lunged in with a strike of his own. The goddess uses her shield to block Percy's attack but for some reason, she staggered backwards and the shield shattered. The goddess yowled in pain as she grabbed her arm. "I didn't hit you that hard, did I?"

"What are you?" The goddess gritted her teeth. You'd think being a goddess, you'll have inhuman strength. "Fall back!" The goddess ordered. The others looked reluctant, but they nodded and flashed away.

"What was that all about?" Percy muttered to himself.

"Percy!" Annabeth called. Percy turned around to see Annabeth and Piper running towards him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Percy said. Percy glanced at where Zeus was to see him not there anymore. "Someone's a bit pissed,"

"What is that?" Piper asked, looking at Percy's sword. "Where did you get that?"

"Hmm? This?" Percy showed her the sword. "Nyx gave it."

"What kind of metal is it?" Annabeth asked. She ran her hands over the blade. "I haven't seen anything like it. It's cold too,"

"To be honest, I don't even know myself," Percy admitted. "Nyx gave it to me in the midst of battle, so I don't really know the details myself. But it feels a lot better than Riptide though,"

"Can I see it?" Annabeth asked. Percy nodded and handed her the sword. The moment she lifted the sword on her own, she dropped it to the ground. "Holy shit!"

"What's wrong?" Piper asked.

"It's freaking heavy," Annabeth said. She tried to lift it off the ground, but she seemed to be struggling to do it. It won't even budge, like it was nailed to the ground.

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked. He tried lifting the sword, and he did so without a problem. "This weighs just like Riptide,"

"Let me try," Piper said. Percy handed her the sword. Again, the moment Percy let her lift the sword on her own, it immediately dropped to the ground. "Shit, what is that thing made of?"

"More importantly, how are you so strong?" Annabeth asked.

"Let's get the others and gather up somewhere else," Percy suggested. "Since the apartment is trashed, I'm guessing we need a place to stay,"

"I've got a place in mind," Piper said.

**Line Break**

"Wow," Percy managed as he looked at Piper's place. "This place is neat,"

It was a standard apartment for a family, only much neater and looked like it had been cleaned up recently. Also, there was a collection of Celestial Bronze and Imperial Gold weapons stashed away in her 'free-for-all' chest.

"It's okay I guess," Piper shrugged. "I usually go here when it's too late to go to our other apartment whenever I come home from work," Annabeth, Percy and Piper settled themselves in quickly and sat down around the living room. Piper had already informed the others about what happened and said that they'll meet us soon.

"So, what happened?" Piper asked.

"Artemis complained to her daddy that someone shot her in the freaking leg." Annabeth muttered. Thunder rumbled in the distance. "And Zeus, being the 'responsible' dad he is, decided to take it out on us."

"I guess that sums it up," Percy scratched the back of his head. "They did go overboard though, with the huge cannon and everything. You know how heavy that ball of metal is?"

Annabeth chuckled. She moved closer and cuddled next to Percy. "At least you're safe."

"A few broken ribs, maybe," Percy shrugged.

"Anyway, what are we going to do now?" Piper asked.

"I can suggest you something," A voice said. They turned around to see Hestia with her usual expressionless face. Percy went for his sword, which was in its scabbard that was attached to his back, but Annabeth stopped him.

"Lady Hestia," Annabeth bowed. Piper followed suit, but not Percy. He harbored a bitter grudge towards the Olympians, since they were the ones who threw him to Tartarus. He glared at Hestia, and she remained expressionless.

"I can't blame you, Perseus," Hestia said. "My brothers and sisters have done you wrong and I understand your anger. I will not stop you if you wish to unleash your anger."

Percy gripped the hilt of his sword tighter. Although he wished some vengeance towards the Olympians, but Hestia was the only Olympian that didn't try to chain Percy or even tried to fight him. Besides, Hestia was one of the kindest and the friendliest goddess Percy had ever met. He sighed and relaxed his hand. "While I am angry with the other Olympians, I have no quarrel with you, Lady Hestia,"

Hestia smiled sweetly at them. Her aura of warmth and comfort seemed to wrap around them. "I appreciate it, Perseus," Then, she looked at them. "I believe, I have a suggestion on what you're going to do now."

"What do you suggest?" Piper asked.

Hestia took a deep breath. "Olympus is in a state of emergency. Before Perseus escaped, we have been dealing with another threat."

"Another big threat, huh?" Percy muttered. "You guys are like a big magnet for trouble,"

"Percy!" Annabeth scolded.

Hestia chuckled. "You amuse me, Perseus. To be honest, you are quite right. Olympus has never seen a moment of peace, even if when our enemies are imprisoned and asleep. But this time, we are in danger with a foe that I believe, is beyond our power."

"Beyond Gaia?" Annabeth asked. Hestia nodded. "So there is actually something worse than Gaia?"

"It's Chaos," Percy said. "The realm of Chaos is stirring."

"How did you know?" Piper asked.

"Nyx told me," Percy gestured at his head. "Annabeth and I had been to the Mansion of Night. Chaos's realm is far deeper than that."

"While I don't want to admit it, but Percy is right. The Realm of Chaos, a section that is separated from Tartarus and is in an entirely different category than the abyss. Nothing, not even primordials, has ever gotten inside the Realm of Chaos." Hestia explained.

Annabeth seemed to understand. "Percy and I once ran through the Mansion of Night. The place felt . . . different. It felt like it was not meant for us."

Hestia nodded. "The Mansion of Night can allow souls to pass through, since the River Acheron is there, making it possible for the living and the dead to pass through. But what lies inside it are not meant for anyone's eyes."

When they were there, Percy and Annabeth almost plunged into the River Acheron. Knowing that the river was the one that allowed them to walk through the Mansion of Night, he was kind of grateful. At least, the river allowed them to walk though the outer part of the place. Percy didn't know if the Acheron would allow them to explore deeper into the Mansion of Night.

"So, what do you want us to do?" Piper asked, breaking the silence.

Hestia shrugged. "I'm just here to suggest on your next move. You're the ones who get to decide what to do. The Realm of Chaos is stirring, showing a potential threat to Olympus. What you do from now on is up to you,"

Percy nodded. "Thank you, Lady Hestia."

Hestia shook her head. "I am in your debt, Perseus. You don't have to thank me," With that lovely note, she disappeared in a pillar of flames. Right on time, Jason and the others entered the apartment.

"Hey guys," Jason said. Then, he took a whiff of the apartment. "Is something burning?"

**A/N: Um, ta-da.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Massive fluffs everywhere, just before we get into the main plot of the story.**

**Chapter 3**

After explaining the rest of the story to Jason and the others, they didn't look very thrilled to learn the news.

"Some has been wrong in the last couple of months," Jason pointed out. "Monsters are getting restless and they're getting harder to kill."

"Is death being chained again?" Percy asked.

Nico shook his head. "I don't think he meant that when he said harder to kill. They're essence is stronger, so it would take more than a wound from godly metal to take them out."

Thalia also nodded. "We've been experiencing that kind of trouble when we're attacked by monsters, or when we're rescuing demigods." Annabeth laced her fingers into Percy's and gripped tightly. Percy gave her a reassuring smile.

"For now, let the gods handle with it," Percy decided. "Keep a look out on things. If something big really is going on, then we're gonna do something about it. For now, let's just wait it out. We earned the rest."

His friends didn't even argue. After seeing so much carnage throughout their teenage demigod life, they earned the rest. Even though the gods weren't giving them much chance to do so after what they'd done, they tried their best to live their life normally.

"Oh yeah," Jason turned to Percy. "Why did Zeus go after you today?"

Percy shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he needed someone to save his godly ass again," Thunder rumbled in the afternoon skies, but the sun was clear and shining. Percy waved it off and smirked. "I think I understand why bastards from Tartarus don't give a fuck about Zeus. When you've been in Hell for six years, you'll learn that the Olympians are scared of you."

Annabeth slapped him slightly on the arm. "Careful with what you say, Percy. That's your pride talking."

Percy kissed her forehead. "Yeah, sorry."

_She's right, you know, _Nyx spoke in his mind.

"Hang on, Nyx is talking," Percy said. "About what?" His friends thought it was weird to see him talking like that by himself, but it would be bad to ignore a talking Primordial in your head.

_About your pride, _Nyx said. _It's like the Titans and Giants. They thought that by being imprisoned in Tartarus, the gods were scared of them. If you keep thinking like that, you'd end up like them as well._

"Control the ego," Percy muttered. "Got it,"

"What did she say?" Nico asked.

"I'll tell you later." Percy grinned. "Right now, I'm hungry. Who wants pizza?"

**Line Break**

The day continued on normally, which was surprising. They were alert as they went on with their daily routine, getting ready should the Olympians jump out of the dumpster and disintegrating them on the spot. After they had their meal, Jason, Thalia and Piper were going out for the night, just to get to know each other since Piper was going to be part of the Grace family. Nico and Reyna head out to get some groceries for the home.

Which left Percy and Annabeth alone in the house.

Annabeth was in the showers while Percy sat on the railing of the balcony, which was dangerous because the apartment was actually five stories from the ground.

_If I hadn't known any better, I'd say you're trying to kill yourself, _Nyx mused.

"And if I hadn't know any better, I might kill myself," Percy muttered back.

_What's on your mind, Perseus?_

Percy sighed. "What's really going on down there, Nyx? Is Chaos really stirring?"

If Nyx was in front of him, he was sure that she'd shook her head. _Even I don't know that. Her realm is deeper than mine and I had no control nor do I know what's going on down there. But Hestia's right. After so long, Chaos's realm is stirring. I don't know if it's a threat or what, but I doubt it would be pretty._

Percy swung his feet as he sat on the railing. Then, he took out his sword which Nyx gave. "What about this thing, Nyx? Tell me more about it."

_That _thing_, is a weapon I created from my very essence, Essence of the Night. It's a rather painful process, so you'd better be grateful for it. Aside from me, the only beings that could wield such weapon are the ones that received my blessing._

"Well, thanks," Percy muttered.

_You don't sound like you meant it,_

"I do," Percy grinned. "You're just being ridiculous,"

_Excuse me, but I am a Primordial_

"And we've tricked you once, remember?"

_I still haven't forgiven you for that,_

"Aw, come on. No hard feelings?"

_Shut up,_

"Percy?" A voice called from behind. It made Percy jumped, so he basically fell down from the railing onto the ground five stories below. But he could fly, so he didn't have to worry.

"AHHH!" Percy faked falling down.

"Percy!" Annabeth ran and looked over the railing, only to see him grinning at her.

"Gotcha," Percy said with a mischievous smirk.

"Not funny!" Annabeth grumbled. She was wearing his old buttoned shirt with shorts that practically revealed her tanned and athletic legs. Percy found himself blushing that he was staring at Annabeth. She looked beautiful six years ago, but now that she's became more mature, She looked even more beautiful. Maybe it was just Percy's raging hormones, but it really was true.

Percy flew and landed next to her. She had a grumpy look on her as she crossed her arms and glared at him. Percy held his hands out apologetically. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"But you did," Annabeth grumbled.

"In my defense, you scared me first," Percy said. Annabeth was still glaring at him. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry."

"And?"

"Uh, promise that I won't do it again,"

_Aren't you a gentleman? _Nyx muttered. Percy sent a mental message to her to shut up.

"Good," Annabeth said. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a deep kiss. Percy returned it with just as much passion. When they pulled out, Annabeth smirked.

"Do you always wear like this?" Percy asked.

Annabeth shook her head. "Only when I'm alone, which happens a lot," Then, she had a mischievous grin. "Why? Is it turning you on?"

Percy blushed furiously. "Um, uh, ah . . ."

Annabeth laughed at that and kissed him on the lips. Percy felt the urge to pull her closer and deepen the kiss. When he did, Annabeth chuckled, and Percy pulled away. "What's wrong?" Percy asked.

"Your 'little friend' is poking at me," Annabeth smiled innocently.

Percy hoped his face wasn't as red as he felt. "Sorry," He muttered.

Annabeth giggled. "Seaweed Brain," She whispered and continued to kiss him. Percy trailed down his kisses to her cheek, then moved to her neck. Annabeth let out a soft moan as Percy continued to kiss her neck. "Percy," She whispered softly. "Let's go somewhere-"

A loud thunder interrupted their intimate moment, which annoyed them immensely.

Stood perched on the railing of their very balcony, was Artemis again, and she didn't look happy.

Percy sighed. "If you're taking me or any of us back to Olympus, it's not going to happen."

"Although I don't like this, but I'm going for the diplomatic approach," Artemis grumbled. She jumped off the railing and stood next to Annabeth and Percy. "The Olympians don't know that I'm visiting you, so be grateful."

Percy noticed that her leg, where Piper had shot her, was wrapped in silver bandage. Percy didn't know that immortals needed healing, being all powerful and everything. "How's the leg?" Percy asked. Artemis was surprised to found genuine concern in his voice.

"It'll heal in a few hours," Artemis admitted. "Percy, I know what your answer's going to be, but I still need to ask you to come to Olympus with me. Just you, the others won't be harmed."

Percy exchanged looks with Annabeth. "I believe I deserve to know why," Percy said.

Artemis nodded. "Zeus won't admit it, but he needs your help. He demands your capture and wants you to work for Olympus, whether you want to or not. He's paranoid about Chaos's realm stirring, and he's afraid that his throne is in danger."

"And Zeus tries to send an invitation through a massive cannonball," Percy rolled his eyes. "Sorry Artemis, but we're going to sit this one out. Unless this _threat _is really as big as you gods think, then none of us are going to lend a helping hand."

Artemis sighed. "I can't say I wasn't expecting that. I'll talk to Zeus and the council. Should you change your mind, I swear on the Styx that you'll be treated fairly and that the council won't harm you,"

Thunder rumbled in the distance. Percy gave Artemis a lopsided grin, which made Artemis blush. "Thank you, Artemis. I appreciate it." Artemis just nodded and flashed away. When Percy turned towards Annabeth, she was glaring at him. "What?"

"I don't like the way she blushes at you," Annabeth grumbled.

_I'm on Annabeth on this one, _Nyx grumbled in his head. _Why did she look at you like that?_

"Okay, first of all, I don't know what you're talking about," Percy held his hands up. "Secondly, why are you acting like this? Are you jealous?"

Annabeth's ears turned pink. "Well, yeah!" She said, exasperated. "I mean, how would you feel if some guy looked at me like he had a thing for me while you're-" Percy silenced her with a kiss. When he pulled out, he had a smirk on his face with Annabeth frowning at him, but she had clearly softened up. "I wasn't finish talking,"

"I know," Percy said. "It's one of my ways to shut you up but not make you mad at the same time,"

Annabeth glared at him before sighing. "I'm getting ready for bed." She said before going inside.

_Why? _Nyx asked.

"Why what?"

_Why was she acting like that around you?_

"For the second time, I don't know."

_I think she has a crush on you,_

Percy rolled his eyes. "Nyx, she's a goddess. Wait, let me rephrase that." Percy raised his hand up dramatically. "She's a _maiden _goddess. You see where I'm getting at?"

Nyx grumbled in frustration. _If she dares to look at you like that again, I'm going to blast her away from Tartarus._

Percy shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Percy went to Annabeth's bedroom to find the owner lying on the bed face up, still awake. "Couldn't sleep, Wise Girl?"

Annabeth sighed. "I was just thinking about us," She sat up. "I was looking forward to, you know, after the war . . ."

Percy realized what she was talking about. He sat next to her and put his arm around her. "I never did ask you again, did I?" Percy grinned. "You know, after everything, we could live together you know. We can actually get a normal life for a change, and then after that we can get married and-" Annabeth shut him up with a kiss. "I wasn't finish talking,"

Annabeth smirked. Instead of saying anything, she leaned towards his ear and whispered softly, "Close the door,"

Okay then.

**Line Break**

That morning, the group gathered at the living room, just chatting as usual before starting their daily routine. Jason was busy cuddling with Piper, while Thalia, Reyna and Nico were having a contest on who could slap the other person's arm harder.

The only ones who weren't there were Percy and Annabeth.

The couple was still sprawled on bed, their bodies entangled with each other after what seemed like a magical night. It was the first for both of them and by Olympus it was wonderful. Annabeth and Percy were elated that they'd fully given themselves to each other. Percy woke up first, smiling as he watched Annabeth's nude yet sleeping figure. Percy pulled a blanket and put it over her as he got dressed himself.

Percy walked out of his room and headed to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

"Whoa, Percy," Nico said. "What did you do last night?"

"What?" Percy asked as he poured the coffee.

"Your hair is messed up," Reyna pointed out.

"It's always like that when I wake up," Percy said as he took a sip of his coffee.

"There's a hickey on your neck," Jason smirked. Percy almost spewed his drink.

"Yeah, well, we kinda made out last night," Percy said, blushing. They seemed to get it and just went to their own duties. Jason went over and leaned on the counter and grinned at Percy.

"Was it good?" He asked.

"Was what good?"

Jason laughed. "You know you can't play dumb with that kind of thing. It's kind of obvious, you know?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "Try not to announce it to the world, Grace," He grumbled. "Yeah, we had sex last night. What can I say? I love her,"

"I'm happy for you man," Jason grinned and gave Percy a fist bump, which he happily returned. "But I'd cover that hickey if I was you,"

"Morning Percy," Someone said behind him. Percy turned around to see Annabeth. Her hair was messy and uncombed, but in a sexy way. She wore the buttoned shirt last night, but this time with denim shorts that reached her knees. She gave him a quick kiss to the lips.

"Good morning Annabeth," Jason grinned. "Had fun last night?"

Annabeth blushed while Percy glared at Jason. "I'll say it one time, Grace. Shut up."

Jason held his hands up in surrender. "I'm going to work now. See you guys soon, okay?"

After Jason left, Thalia, Nico and Reyna followed suit. Again, it's Percy, Piper and Annabeth all that left in the house.

_Percy, I need you to do something for me, _Nyx said in his head.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked.

_Erase my memory about you last night, _She grumbled. _There're some things that I should forget._

Percy grinned. "Well, too bad you're-" For the millionth time, he was interrupted by a powerful lightning striking their balcony. Percy immediately brought out his sword, while Annabeth and Piper sprang into action.

"What was that?" Piper asked.

"Perseus!" The voice of the Lord of the Skies bellowed. "Come out here before I blast the living soul out of you!"

"What does this prick want again?" Percy growled. He started to walk out, but Annabeth stopped him.

"Percy, it could be a trap,"

"I need to deal with him," Percy said seriously. "He can't keep bothering us like this." Percy walked past Annabeth and flew to the rooftop of the apartment. Zeus was on top of the building next to the apartment. "What do you want, asshole?"

Zeus's nostrils flared. "Ares! Bring her here!" Zeus shouted. Ares flashed into the scene, sprawled on the ground next to him was Artemis, in chains. The wound on her leg was still there, not healing like it should. Artemis looked beaten up with her clothes tattered up. She was in chains and didn't look conscious. "I believe my daughter visit you last night, correct?"

"That's none of your business," Percy said, anger building up in his chest. "Let her go! It's me you want!"

Lightning struck around him, narrowly missing him, but Percy didn't flinch. "I will show you what happens to people who betray me." Zeus growled. Zeus brought his master bolt up, ready for the kill. Percy realized what was going to happen.

As the master bolt made its way towards Artemis, Percy heard a gunshot as Zeus staggered backwards, golden blood dripping from his shoulder.

"Still an egotistical bastard, I see," Piper said from the apartment. "Are you going to kill someone else just so your ego won't be wounded?"

"Kill them!" Zeus roared. Ares moved with blinding speed towards Percy, his giant sword ready for the kill. Percy blocked it with his sword, then he kicked Ares away. Percy surged forward and elbowed Ares. The war god grunted before spinning around, trying to hit Percy's skull with the hilt of his sword. Percy ducked out of the way, and sliced at Ares's ankle.

The god roared in pain as golden blood rushed out of his wound. Percy wasted no time in tackling Ares, pinning him to the ground. The built up rage in him was finally unleashed. He was on top of Ares as he landed blow after blow with his fists. The fact that the Olympians harmed someone that was innocent was ticking Percy off.

Ares didn't stand a chance as Percy beat his face up with newfound strength from Nyx's blessing.

_Percy, enough_, Nyx said in his head.

Surprisingly, Percy stopped. He hadn't realized the damage he'd done to Ares's face. Even though he was a god, Percy doubted it would take him a minute to heal from those wounds.

_Go save Artemis,_ Nyx said. Percy calmly obliged and scanned the area for her. Zeus was still standing next to her, kicking her in the gut while she's in pain. Artemis didn't look like she could fight, so Percy had to help her.

Percy flew towards Zeus and planted both feet on his chest in a dropkick, sending him tumbling down the roof. Percy went towards Artemis to see her face deathly pale. Her skin was feverishly cold and she didn't look too good. Percy carried Artemis bridal style and flew towards his apartment, where Piper and Annabeth were waiting. They looked like they'd been in combat themselves. The probably were when Percy was busy with Ares.

"Take care of her," Percy said. Piper just nodded as Percy set Artemis carefully on the couch.

"PERSEUS JACKSON!" Zeus roared. "Give me my daughter back!"

"You wanted to kill her!" Percy shouted back. "I can't have you do that now, can I?!"

"I will blast you away!"

"Give me your best shot!" Percy challenged. Zeus fired his master bolt straight at Percy. He didn't know how, but with a defiant yell, he formed a barrier made out of dark energy that surrounded him. The bolt hit the barrier with tremendous force, making everything tremble before it disappeared. Percy was unaffected, but the barrier seemed to drain his energy. "I'm going to give you a chance, Airhead. Either you fuck off, or I'm going to make sure that you suffer as much as possible."

Zeus growled as he flashed away, knowing his chances are limited without any backup. Percy hadn't realized how drained he was until he finally sat down. His body felt sore and his muscles were tired. Percy walked over to where Artemis was laid down on a couch and sat on the floor next to it. Piper was cleaning the blood from her body. Her clothes were stained with red blood, but her skin was slowly returning back to normal.

Wait . . .

"Is she bleeding mortal blood?" Percy asked.

Piper nodded. "I don't know how it happened. The moment I tried wiping her wounds, her blood turned red."

"I think Zeus stripped her of her immortality," Annabeth concluded. "I don't know if it's possible or not, but what I know is that she's no longer a mortal."

"That's a bit hard to believe," Percy wheezed. "We met her last night. She used powers with no problem,"

"You're mortal Percy, and you can use Poseidon's powers with no problem," Annabeth said. "My point is that she may or may not still have her powers, doesn't matter if she's immortal or not. Her powers maybe weakened, now that she's not a goddess, but she still has powers."

On cue, Artemis coughed. Now that she's a mortal, her recover rate is very slow. "Can she drink nectar?" Piper asked.

"She had immortal parents, so I think it would be okay. But I wouldn't risk giving her too much." Annabeth said. Piper nodded and grabbed a canteen of nectar.

"Damn Piper," Percy muttered. "You've got everything ready, haven't you?"

"I like to be prepared," Piper smirked as she made Artemis drink some of the nectar. The color was slowly returning to her face and her wounds closed a bit. She must've took quite a beating, judging from the bruises and cuts on her body.

"Get some rest, Percy." Annabeth said. "We'll look after her,"

"Promise me you won't kill her?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Depends,"

**Line Break**

Percy woke up at midnight, which was a bit strange. That fight must've drained much out of him. Annabeth was on bed next to him. Percy didn't want to wake her up, so he slowly slid out of bed and headed to the kitchen to grab something to drink. He was surprised to hear sobbing coming from the living room.

Percy slowly crept up towards the source of the sound. It was Artemis. She was on the couch, hugging her knees and sobbing. When she noticed Percy, she quickly wiped her tears away and put on her strong face. "I thought you were asleep," Artemis said, her voice was cracking.

Percy shrugged. "I woke up," Percy went to the kitchen and made two mugs of hot chocolate. He walked over to Artemis and gave her one of the mugs. She eyes at him warily. Percy rolled his eyes. "It's not poisoned, if that's what you're wondering."

Artemis glanced back and forth between Percy and the glass of chocolate before taking it. She took a sip of it before staring at him. Percy sat a few distance away from her, partly because she was a man-hating goddess. Well, _was _a man-hating goddess.

"Why are you being nice to me?" Artemis asked.

"Would you prefer if I was mean to you?" Percy asked with a grin.

"Just answer the question, Perseus,"

Percy shrugged. "Just cause. I know I can be scary, but I'm not evil."

"Then why won't you help Olympus?"

Percy's expression darkened. "Because Olympus doesn't deserve my help. Not after what you guys did to me." Then, his expression softened. "Try locking someone up in Hell after what they did for you. It would be hard not to feel bitter."

Artemis was silent for a while, letting the silence of the night settle in before speaking again. "Sorry," Artemis managed. Even though she's not a goddess anymore, it was hard to swallow her pride just to apologize to a male.

Percy chuckled and shook his head. "There's no need for that. Although I appreciate you apology, I don't need it."

Artemis just nodded. "Percy, what are you going to do next?

"I'm still standing by my decision," Percy said. "I'm going to wait it out to see what happens. If it gets worse, I'll interfere. But if Olympus is still coming after me, I'm going to keep telling them to leave me and my friends alone,"

Artemis wasn't comfortable asking this, but she had to. She had nowhere else to go. "Um, can I stay here for a while?"

Percy smiled. "Make yourself at home. Sorry if this isn't as comfortable as what you're used to."

"It's fine," Artemis smiled at him. "Thank you, Perseus."

"Get some sleep, will you?" Percy said. "Nothing's going to get you here. There's no impending danger around here, so you should be able to get a peaceful sleep."

Artemis nodded. Before Percy could do anything, Artemis planted a kiss on Percy's cheek before resting her head on Percy's lap. "Uh, Artemis? Can you, um, sleep somewhere else?"

Too late, Artemis was already asleep.

This will be fun in the morning.

**A/N: I know it didn't seem much, since everything was just fluff, but the next chapter will be where the story really progresses.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Yep, you guessed it. It's going to be a harem for Percy. But a three way harem? Nah, that's too easy for him. It's going to be a tense relationship between Percy and four other females. While the pairing may still be Percabeth, it's going to be a weird relationship.**

**Chapter 4**

Percy woke up in the morning, looking straight into the stormy grey eyes of a certain daughter of wisdom glaring deep into his soul. The others looked at him, expecting an explanation.

_Yeah, what is she doing sleeping on your lap? _Nyx demanded.

"Um, morning?" Percy said. Annabeth didn't say a thing. She sent Percy a mental threat through her glare that said. _Explain. Now. _"I woke up last night and wanted to have a drink. I found Artemis still awake, we talked for a bit before she fell asleep on my lap."

"And you decided to just leave it like that?" Annabeth asked.

Nico winced. "Bad move, Perce." Thalia elbowed him.

"Hey, she was already asleep. There was nothing I could do." Percy defended himself. Then, Artemis stirred in her sleep. "She's waking up now."

Artemis stretched herself on Percy's lap and yawned before scanning her surroundings. "Oh, hey," Artemis smiled innocently at everyone. She finally sat up and yawned again. Annabeth and Nyx found it a bit annoying that she was acting out like it was no big deal sleeping on someone else's lap. While Thalia, Piper and Reyna felt a bit of sympathy towards Percy on the situation he's in, Jason and Nico were grinning, waiting for the drama to happen.

Annabeth glared at the former moon goddess, then glared at Percy, then back at Artemis before making her way out of the house.

"Where're you going?" Percy asked.

"I've got something to do at the office," Annabeth grumbled before slamming the door shut behind her. The rest of the group looked at Percy as if it was his fault.

"What?"

"Annabeth doesn't have an office," Thalia simply explained.

"Which means?"

Reyna rolled her eyes. "You boys are so clueless," Reyna said before heading off to work, followed by Thalia.

Jason laughed. "You're in deep shit now, Percy,"

Percy glared at him. "Don't you have work to do?"

He shrugged. "It can wait. My shift's not up in a few hours."

Artemis tugged at Percy's arm. "Can I talk to you?" Artemis looked around her. "Alone?"

Percy nodded. "Sure," He said. Jason and Nico decided to leave them alone while Percy and Artemis went to the balcony, where no one was around. "What's wrong?"

"What's up with that spawn of wisdom?" Artemis asked. "She didn't seem to be in a good mood."

Percy sighed. "I'm guessing she's just jealous. She's not familiar with people, particularly women, spending their time with me except for a few of her friends."

"Am I not a friend?"

"Well, you did try to take me away a few days ago, remember? And you threatened to kill our friends. I figured she still wasn't happy about that,"

Artemis sighed. "I guess I should talk to her later, huh?" Percy nodded. They were silent for a minute or so before Artemis brought up the topic she didn't want to talk about. "I'm not a goddess anymore, right?"

Percy nodded. "I'm afraid so. I don't know what happened, but you're no longer immortal. So you've got to take care of yourself from now on," Percy gave her a smile, which made Artemis's heart made jumping jacks. Artemis mentally cursed herself for feeling that way. Why was Percy making her feel this way?

"Sure," Artemis smiled back at him. "Thanks, Percy," Artemis stood on her tiptoes and planted a kiss on his cheek, which shocked him. Percy stood there, staring into empty space, thinking of what just happened. A maiden goddess had kissed him in the freaking cheek. She kissed him, on the cheek. Artemis rarely be around males for a mile radius, much less gave them a kiss. Artemis made her way inside as Percy tried to regain his composure.

_Don't be surprised if you see me murdering a certain moon goddess_, Nyx grumbled in his head.

"What's the matter?" Percy asked. "Why are you having an attitude?"

_Because she's being way too close with you, _Nyx said, clearly annoyed or angry, probably both. _I'm not liking it one bit._

"You really are jealous," Percy smirked. "Why? Do you have a thing for me?"

_W-What? Don't be ridiculous! _Nyx argued, but Percy could tell she was lying. _Me, a Primordial, h-have a thing for you? Stop dreaming, Perseus._

Percy shrugged. "Well, you can't tell with Primordials, can you? For all I know, it might be true," Percy mused. Nyx was silent after that. Then, he heard Jason calling him from inside.

"Percy! We're leaving!"

"Sure!" Percy said back. Then, he sighed. What was he going to do now? Annabeth was having an attitude, the others had gone to work and Piper said she had to pick up something near Jason's workplace, which leaves him alone with Artemis.

Percy was about to make his way inside when something flashed next to him. Percy's hand was already gripping the hilt of his sword before he saw a familiar friendly face.

"Lady Hestia," Percy said with a sigh of relief. "I thought you for an enemy."

"Is everything a threat to you, Perseus?" Hestia gave him a sweet smile. "I see you're doing well,"

"If you can call being constantly bugged by Olympians is doing well, then yes, I'm doing quite well," Percy grumbled. Hestia managed a chuckle. "What brings you here, Milady?"

"I've just come to inform you something," Hestia's expression turned serious. "Olympus is restless. Zeus isn't handling the stress well, being paranoid about Chaos's realm and busy handling with you."

Percy shrugged. "It's his fault. I didn't ask to get picked on by the King of Gods."

"Anyway, that's not why I'm here for." Hestia looked around, as if she was afraid that someone was watching. "Artemis, is she well?"

Percy sighed. "I don't know how she's holding up inside, but she seems pretty okay to me." Percy eyed the skies warily. "Did Zeus did that to her?"

Hestia nodded. "I don't have the slightest clue how, but he managed to strip Artemis out of her immortality. Being the child of a Titan and a God, of course Artemis would have natural powers with her, but I'm afraid she's not as powerful as she is before losing immortality. Zeus has every ally that Olympus has looking for you and ordered you to be brought back to Olympus,"

Percy frowned. "I found that hard to believe. I know Olympus doesn't have many allies, but if what you said really is true, then we would've been attacked twenty-four/seven."

Hestia smiled as she brushed Percy's hair, which made Percy blush. Hestia was in her eight year old form, so Hestia had to stand on her tiptoes to reach him. "They're afraid of you, Perseus,"

Percy snorted. "Them? Afraid of me?"

Hestia nodded. "You don't know how feared you are throughout the Greek and Roman world. They recognized you as the Bane of Titans and the one who put Gaia back to sleep. You're one of the few demigods who had ventured through Tartarus and survived and you're also the only demigod to have escaped Tartarus."

Now that she's put it that way, Hestia was kind of right. Percy didn't meant to get a big head, but it made sense on why everyone feared him. He'd done many things that most demigods couldn't have done. He was probably the strongest demigod in existence, or maybe the strongest that had _ever _existed.

"There's one more thing, Perseus," Hestia said, which brought Percy's attention towards her. "There's something I want you to investigate, and you won't like the place."

"Let me guess, Tartarus?" Percy sighed. Hestia smiled apologetically.

"I know you're not eager to go there after spending six years down there and I won't force you to this task, but I don't know whom else to ask." Hestia muttered. "Hades has reported a strange something coming from Tartarus. He hasn't informed anyone else, because he didn't want to make Olympus even more in panic than it is right now. I want you to investigate this, should you want to."

Percy thought about it. He didn't really want to go back to Tartarus, after spending six freaking years down there. He doubt the blessing of Nyx would help him much if he encountered Giants or Titans, and he didn't want to leave Annabeth and his friends behind. He also doubted that Annabeth would let him go back to Tartarus after being separated for six years. And he didn't want to leave his friends behind to defend for themselves should Zeus launch another attack.

Then again, he wanted to help Hestia, mainly to repay her back for not handing them over to Olympus. Plus, he didn't have anything better to do rather than spending the time in Piper's apartment.

"I will go," Percy said. Hestia's expression lit up. "But you have to promise me something,"

"What is it?"

"You have to promise me that Zeus won't attack my friends, including Artemis, as long as I am gone. Don't tell them where I will be going and make sure they're safe."

Hestia smiled. "You never stopped thinking about the ones you care about, do you Percy? I swear by the River Styx to abide by your conditions." Thunder rumbled in the distance. In truth, Hestia was jealous of the ones Percy cared about. Hestia wanted the kind of protectiveness and caring that Percy gave them. She always wondered what it felt like to be treated like that. "Here," Hestia gave Percy a necklace decorated with a small red jewel. "This will get you in and out of Tartarus. Just think about the place, and you'll be there."

Percy nodded. "Thank you, Lady Hestia. I'll be back as soon as possible,"

Hestia stood on her tiptoes and kissed Percy on the cheek. "Good luck," She whispered before disappearing in a pillar of warm flames. Percy blinked a few times just to make sure he wasn't dreaming that he'd just been given a kiss on the cheek by yet another maiden goddess.

_Yeah, it's not a dream. Either you stop them from doing that, or I'll make sure they won't have a face to kiss anymore, _Nyx grumbled angrily in his head.

"You really do have a crush on me," Percy smirked before teleporting himself to Tartarus, determined to get this thing sorted out as soon as possible.

**Line Break**

That night, Jason got back from work and saw that most of them had already arrived, but they weren't looking too happy. Jason noticed something was wrong.

Percy wasn't here.

"What's wrong, guys?" Jason asked.

"Percy's gone," Thalia sighed.

"And no one knew where he went?" Jason asked.

Everybody shook their head. "Artemis was the last person to see him," Annabeth glared at Artemis. "But she claims that Percy disappeared without her knowledge as well."

"It wasn't my fault," Artemis huffed, turning her back against Annabeth while Annabeth refused to look at Artemis. Jason sensed the rivalry between the two, and he couldn't say he wasn't surprised. Both of them had a _thing _for Percy, so it's natural for them to be natural enemies. "I turned around for one minute and the next thing I knew, he was gone,"

"You're just being careless," Annabeth grumbled.

"I'll have you know that I have my eyes on him all the time,"

"Is that way you decided to-"

"Girls!" Piper interrupted, which was good, because both women looked ready for a bloodbath. "We have bigger things to worry about now,"

"Let's talk about that on the way to Louisiana tomorrow, okay?" Jason said.

"Louisiana?" Thalia frowned. "Why are we going there?"

"Chiron sent me an Iris Message," Jason said. "There's a demigod he wanted us to pick up there, so we're leaving tomorrow." Jason glanced at Artemis. "You can come if you want. We could use the help,"

"I would love to," Artemis said, before she continued her glare contest with Annabeth.

After a few hours of just talking and making themselves feel at home (also a few time to pull Annabeth from fighting with Artemis), Jason finally decided to settle in for the night. He got ready for sleep and lied down on his bed. Piper joined him a few minutes afterwards. Jason never got tired of acknowledging how beautiful Piper is. He was certain that he made the right choice of wanting to marry her.

"Hey Pipes," Jason smirked at him. Piper returned his smile and cuddled up next to him.

"Jason, do you think Percy's going to be okay?" Piper asked.

"He can take care of himself," Jason said reassuringly. "He's the strongest demigod alive, right? We'll see him again."

Piper sighed. "I just worry about Annabeth. She's just gotten Percy back, I don't want her to lose him again."

"He'll be back, Piper," Jason smiled at her. "It's Percy we're talking about.

**Line Break**

Tartarus was just as horrible as he remembered.

But this time, Percy was able to defend himself, which was a huge advantage. The sword that contained Nyx's essence did more damage to monsters than Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold. By the time Percy reached River Cocytus, his clothes were tattered and torn, but so far he managed to go unharmed.

"Okay, we're here," Percy said. "What now?"

_Investigate what's happening down here, _Nyx reminded.

Percy rolled his eyes. "I get that part. I just need to know what's happening here,"

_Then it wouldn't be called investigating, wouldn't it?_

"You're impossible," Percy walked alongside the River Cocytus, his eyes alert for any danger or threat or anything that could be what he was looking for. A hellhound lunged at him without warning, so Percy just sidestepped and slashed at the ribs of the monster. It exploded into yellow dust and Percy just continued on.

_What exactly are we looking for? _Nyx asked.

"You tell me. You've been in here far longer than I have,"

_Doesn't mean I know every corner or every monster that spawned out of his body,_

"Okay, okay," Percy held his hands up in surrender. "I guess I'm looking for something that might give out an aura that would trouble the gods."

Right on cue, an ungodly roar came out from the cliffs that lead the River of Fire. Percy did sensed something . . . different about it.

_That would be it, _Nyx muttered.

The ground of Tartarus rumbled as step by step, something was climbing its way out of the cliffs slowly. The monsters that were slowly surrounding him wasn't helping either. Hellhounds, dracaenas, Laistrygonian and every other monster you know was circling him. Percy knew this was going to happen.

The bad news?

He didn't know what to do.

"Um, if you can give me some pointers about your blessing like, how to disintegrate dozens of monsters with a snap of my fingers, that'd be great, Nyx," Percy muttered as he eyed the monster one by one. The ground shook harder as the mysterious monster was closer to coming out of the cliff.

_Sorry Percy, but you're on your own, _Nyx said. _But look on the bright side. At least you can exercise a bit._

Percy rolled his eyes. A hellhound lunged at him. Percy sidestepped the beast's attack and decapitated it. A dracaenae hissed and tried to stab Percy with her trident, but Percy rolled out of the way and stabbed it in the gut. Every monster he cut down was crumbling to dust way too easily. Maybe it's the sword, or maybe because they're already in Tartarus, but Percy wasn't going to complain.

_ETA fifty seconds before the large scary monster comes out of the cliff, _Nyx sang.

"You're not helping!" Percy said while he sliced at the kneecap of a Laistrygonian and stabbed at its gut. The sword felt really comfortable in Percy's hand, much more than Riptide.

_I don't understand why you don't just fly and escape this mess, _Nyx rambled. _You do know you can fly, right?_

"Still not helping!"

_Hey, you asked me for pointers and I gave you one._

"Stop distracting me!"

Then, came the ungodly roar again. The roar was hard to explain. Imagine the sound the fabric of dimension tearing apart would be like. Now amplify that sound through the world's largest speaker. That's how horrible the roar was. Then, the monster came out of the cliff, unleashing its terrifying roar again. Some monsters even disintegrated from the roar itself.

"Uh, Nyx," Percy muttered, his eyes kept staring on the monster. "I'm going to need your help in this."

_Well, aren't you in a deep shit, _Nyx muttered, her voice was of disbelief as well.

It was, without a doubt, one of the most terrifying and scariest monster Percy had ever seen. The monster was right up there with Tartarus. It had no eyes, and the head only consisted of the bottom half, with the mouth. Sprouting from each side of its head were curved horns that looked like the sharp branches of a wilted tree. It curved around something above its head, like a floating ball of red energy. Its razor sharp teeth was drooling with some kind of liquid that Percy had no interest of knowing about. The monster had a hollow frame, with its chest part split wide open, revealing nothing inside its figure except for black, thick bones. The shoulders sprouted out wicked spikes that were either the same size or larger than Percy. The arms looked like thick black roots wrapped around to make an arm and formed the thin scaly hands that looked mean enough to rip anything apart with ease. Around its neck and wrists were black chains, which meant this monster was imprisoned before.

And that was just the top half of his body out of the cliff, and he was already standing ten feet taller than him.

"If I shit my pants, can you please keep it between us?" Percy squeaked.

_We'll see_,

The monster let out another ungodly roar. Percy concluded that his ears had probably crumbled dust, because all he heard was pinging in his ears. The monster raised its hand, which was five feet in length and was as thick as a school bus. Percy doubted he would be able to penetrate his blade through that thick skin. With one massive swing, he smacked his hand down, making the ground tremble and squashing some monsters along in the process.

"Time to be stupid again," Percy muttered.

_When there is a time when you _weren't _stupid? _Nyx mused. Percy ignored her and rushed forward towards the monster, slicing any other monsters in his way. The good thing about this monster is that he's huge, which means that Percy is a lot faster than it. The bad thing about it is that it wouldn't take much for the monster to squash Percy like a bug.

As the monster smacked his other hand one more time, Percy used the opportunity to try and wound it. Just as he thought, the blade barely went through the monster's skin as it lodged in just a centimeter deep. Percy pulled his sword and flew away just in time as the monster lifted its arm up. Now that it had noticed Percy, it's going to take everything for him just to stay alive and possibly, not get wounded.

The monster roared and caught Percy off guard as it smacked Percy midair, faster than Percy anticipated. He landed roughly on the black ground littered with shattered glass. Scratches filled his skin, wounding him in several places. His whole body ached like never before. His bones made unpleasant cracking noises as he stood up. Even though the monster didn't have any eyes, Percy could sense that it was glaring straight at him.

Okay, scratch 'not get wounded'. Now, he just needed to stay alive.

He needed to get out. Percy tried using Hestia's necklace, trying to get back to the upper world, but it didn't work and he realized why.

He'd lost the necklace.

Fuck.

**Line Break**

Jason and the others arrived at the house that Chiron had mentioned. It looked like a nice house from the outside. Chiron usually sends them if the demigod they were getting had some trouble with whoever that was taking care of them. If the demigods had a normal life, like a nice house and nice parents and everything, Chiron would send satyrs to do the work. The demigod didn't seem to live in a crappy house. It was like everything a normal kid would ask for.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Thalia asked.

"I'm positive," Jason said. "Let's get the work done, shall we?"

"What's the plan?" Nico asked.

"Try for the diplomatic approach first," Jason said. "Piper and I will go in first. If everything goes well, then it's going to be an easy one. If things get messy, bust in like you're FBI."

They seemed to get the plan. Reyna had to stand between Artemis and Annabeth, because they kept glaring at each other. Jason sighed as he grabbed Piper's hand and headed towards the entrance. Jason knocked on the door a few times. He heard footsteps getting closer to the door. A few seconds later, it opened, revealing a man in his mid-thirties. He looked grumpy and serious, like one of those guys who's having a hard time to smile.

"Whaddaya want?" The man grumbled.

"We're here to see your, uh, son?"

"Daughter," The man glared. "And no, you can't, so scram!" He slammed the door shut one their faces.

Jason just sighed. This time, he banged on the door harder. The door swung open, and the man was definitely angry. "What's your goddamn problem?"

"We just want to see the kid, mister," Jason said in a calm but steely tone. "Just cooperate and no one gets hurt."

"You better leave before I smash your head, kid," The man said. "Hey! Joe! Come here! There's a punk outside the house," He called inside the house. Coming to the front door was half a dozen guys and they looked the same age. "Now, do you change your mind?"

"Yeah," Jason glared at him. "Instead of letting you go, I think I'm going to have to beat you up now."

The man aimed a punch at Jason, but he easily leaned to the side, grabbed the wrist of the man and used his momentum to make him tumble down outside his house, landing roughly on the pavement where the others were waiting.

"We're gonna have some work to do," Jason grinned.

**Line Break**

Percy had to give the monster one thing. It never stops to surprise Percy like every ten minutes.

Finally, the whole body got out of the cliff and it wasn't any better than before. It stood at least twenty feet tall, and its legs looked like massive tree trunks uprooted and attached to a body, acting as legs. They were pitch black, just like the rest of his body and were as wide and large as the largest tree in the world. The monster will definitely have no problem squashing Percy like a bug.

Percy had been force to stay on air just so he could evade the monster's attack more easily. It was fast for a twenty feet tall monster. Percy had tried many things from slashing its skin to annoying it to death, but nothing seems to work.

Percy, on the other hand, was getting tired. The wounds around his body didn't help with situation and his body was aching all over the place. Percy waved under the swinging hand of the monster again and decided to use the water from the River Cocytus. He formed the water into the shape of a large spear and willed it to move forward in high velocity, trying to stab the monster.

The monster simply roared, and Percy's control over water was lost and the spear crumbled into a puddle of Underworld water. "This is going nowhere," Percy panted. "You've gotta help me now, Nyx, or I really am going to die."

_Sounds tempting, _

"Yeah, real funny," Percy rolled his eyes. He was losing his strength rapidly as he flew away from the monster, keeping distance from him but not getting it out of his sight. "I'm serious, Nyx,"

_Unfortunately, I don't have the slightest clue on how to defeat the monster. But I can help you escape, _Nyx said.

"That'd do for now," Percy said. "I wasn't prepared to face this thing."

_You can use that sword to dig your way up to the upper world,_

"I hope you're joking,"

_I hope so too, but I'm being serious. Just fly upwards to the ceiling, point the sword upwards and watch the magic happen,_

Percy didn't believe a thing she said, because it sounded way too ridiculous but now, it was his only chance. It was either that or risked dying here.

He preferred the former.

Percy flew upward and pointed his sword at the ceiling. Just before hitting the ceiling of Tartarus, the sword let loose a stream of black flames and melted the earth wherever it touched. Now, Percy just had to drill his way through back the mortal world and he'll be free.

Oh, but it never was that easy, was it?

The monster below Percy roared loudly and sprouted black wings, or at least the frame of one. There were no feathers on his wings, just bones and some kind of dark fabric made out of energy, but it didn't stop it from flying.

"Of course he'd have wings," Percy grumbled as he starts to drill through, the monster hot on his tail.

**Line Break**

After everything had been taken care of, Jason and the others searched the house for the demigod that Chiron had sent them for. "Have you checked upstairs?" Jason asked.

Annabeth nodded. "The rooms are empty,"

"Well, everything's empty down here too," Nico said. "Maybe she ran?"

Thalia shook her head. "I doubt she could."

"There's something weird about this place," Artemis furrowed her eyebrows.

"You're the only thing weird around here," Annabeth grumbled.

"Knock it off," Jason rolled his eyes. Artemis was glaring at Annabeth.

"Look who's talking," Artemis snarled.

"Do you want me to punch you again?"

"Oh, that way a punch? I'm sorry, it felt like a fly landed on me,"

Annabeth was about to lunge at Artemis when Pipe called from the garage: "Found her!"

"You can finish your little feud later, okay?" Jason said. "Now's not the time,"

"She started it," Artemis said.

"You asked for it,"

"You're giving me headaches," Jason muttered as he headed towards the garage with the other following behind him. Piper was knelt down next to a little girl, no older than thirteen years old. She was cute with the pigtails and the brunette hair, but she didn't look too good. There were bags under her eyes, and she looked like she hadn't eaten in a while.

"I found her in the trunk," Piper gestured at the trunk of a standard Ford, which was now open. Why the demigod was in there, Jason had no idea. "Her name's Jenny,"

Jason knelt down next to her. Jenny took one look at him and backed away, hiding behind Piper. "She might be scared," Thalia offered.

Jason smiled sweetly at Jenny. "Hey there Jenny," Jason started in a soft voice. "I'm Jason and these are my friends. We're here to come get you,"

"W-Where are you taking me?" Jenny said.

Annabeth had calmed herself from her anger and faced up to Jenny, smiling sweetly. "Listen, Jenny, you're a special kid. You're different from other kids because, well, I'm going to be straight with you. One of your parent is a god or goddess. Being a child of a god or goddess, means that you're special, like us,"

After explaining everything and all that, Piper teleported Jenny to Camp Half-Blood. "Well, mission successful," Jason grinned. They got out of the house and talked about it as they were walking while Annabeth and Artemis kept insulting each other. Percy's going to have a heck of a mess to clear up when he gets back.

Which was sooner than expected.

The ground rumbled underneath the group. "What the heck? An earthquake?" Annabeth asked. She had her answer soon enough as the tarmac in front of them burst apart and a person came out of it.

"Percy?" They all had a look of confusion on their faces.

He frowned when he saw them. "What are you guys doing here?" Percy then shook her head. "Forget that, we need to go, now." He climbed out of his hole and dragged all of his friends with him away. The ground continued to rumble slightly.

"What's going on, Percy?" Nico asked. "Where did you come from?"

"Can we talk later? When we're not in danger?"

"What are we running from anyway?" Piper asked. Then, the ground where Percy popped up exploded, blowing up cars, streetlamp and everything. From the hole, the horrendous creature crawled up, letting out its infamous roar.

"We're running away from that," Percy muttered. "Get everyone to safety. I'll stall it."

"Are you crazy?" Annabeth exclaimed. "We'll take it down together, whatever that is,"

Percy shook his head. "Please don't. This monster is different. I can't kill it, but I can stall it. It's beyond our league. You need to go,"

Annabeth glared at him. "Never separating again, remember?" Annabeth drew her ivory sword and eyed the monster. "I hope it's not as strong as it looks."

"Not to crush your hope, but it's stronger than it looks." Percy said. Then, he heard several more weapons being drawn from the group. They looked at Percy and grinned.

"We're not going to let you have all the fun," Jason said.

Although he was a bit annoyed that they're being stubborn, he couldn't help but admire their bravery and be grateful for their help. It took all of Percy's power just to stay alive when fighting this abomination. If he's going to defeat it, he's going to need all the help you could get. "You stubborn sons of bitches," He grinned.

"We got it from you," Thalia grinned back.

Together, they charged at the monster. Artemis, somehow, still got her mastery over bows. She fired arrow after arrow. While each of them found their way to the monster, the skin was too thick for the arrows to penetrate. Every time it unleashed its roar, they couldn't help but be stunned for a few seconds before regaining their bearings.

"We've got to disable the mouth!" Percy shouted as he and Jason flew around it while the others kept the fighting on the ground. Percy heard police sirens wailing across the distance and the mortals screaming and running in terror.

"How?" Nico asked as he rolled out of the way of its foot and tried to stab it, but failed as his sword barely pierced through its skin. Percy didn't know how to stop the monster from doing its ungodly roar. They couldn't even attack him with the thick outer skin protecting him. Then, something clicked into him.

Crazy idea time.

"Jason, as soon as I'm inside, keep distracting him and focus your attacks on his arms and legs." Percy explained. Jason frowned at him as he flew under the swinging arms of the monster.

"Inside? Inside where?"

Percy grinned and flew in front of the monster. The monster saw Percy and roared again.

_I hope you're not doing what I think you're thinking about doing, _Nyx said. _Because that would be brave, stupid and not to mention, gross._

"There's only one way to find out." Percy said. Percy conjured a ball of black energy and fired it towards the monster. It didn't affect him that much, but it annoyed him, which was enough for Percy.

"Percy!" Annabeth called. "What are you doing?"

"Be back soon!" Percy said as the monster roared. Percy took the opportunity to fly inside the monster's maw. The last thing he heard before the roar died down was Artemis and Annabeth, calling out his name.

_You really are stupid, _Nyx said.

**A/N: HA HA! I'll end it here just for the funzies. I think I like writing about Annabeth and Artemis's feud. It'll be interesting when they knew Nyx and Hestia are in it as well. MUAHAHAHAHA! I just like to torture Percy with this. This will be a massive shitstorm. But yeah, that was it.**

**Oh, and if you're wondering what the monster looked like, um, it was something I saw in DeviantArt, but I forgot what the name was. So, use your imagination :) (hint: it looks a lot like Shadow Fiend + Faceless Void. Google what they are, then mix the up.)**

**To Kromperton : I have nothing against Ares, but he seems like the perfect guy to fight on. The rest of the gods aren't violent enough for fighting, even though they tend to blast things around them.**

**So, leave a review if you like it, like I said, a review always help and take care.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Whew . . .**

**Chapter 5**

The last thing his friends saw was him grinning as he flew into the jaws of the monster, on purpose. They stood there, confused rather than shocked. Percy sure was dumb, but he wasn't _that _dumb.

"He's got a plan," Jason told them. "Though I'm not sure what it is,"

"Look out!" Thalia threw her spear at the monster as it tried to squash Annabeth and Artemis flat. Annabeth rolled the same way Artemis did, which caused them to tumble to the ground but out of harm's way.

"You're in the way!" Annabeth shouted.

"You're the one who ran into me!" Artemis shouted back.

"Stop it!" Piper interfered "Now's not the time!"

"She ran into me!" Artemis argued. The monster let loose its ungodly roar again, which caused them to close their ears.

"I swear, this monster is going to make me deaf," Reyna grumbled. She moved along with Nico, weaving under is legs before trying to slice at its leg. Their effort was futile when the monster spun around and swiped them aside with one swing from its hand. Nico and Reyna flew aside and fortunately, landed on the grass but Jason doubted they had a soft landing. At least it wasn't concrete. Nico and Reyna were left unconscious on the ground, out of harm's way.

Thalia and Artemis worked together as their ranged unit, firing volleys of arrows but none of them pierced the skin of the huge monster. "We need a cannon, literally," Artemis said.

Annabeth and Piper were the ones left that were fighting on foot, while Jason flew around, jabbing at any openings towards the monster, occasionally striking it down with lightning. Even with all the effort, they hadn't even made the monster tired. Instead, the tiredness seemed to wash over them.

"This is bad," Jason muttered.

**Line Break**

Fighting the monster face to face was terrifying enough but being inside it? Imagine a hole, just barely wide enough for you to stand up, dark and icky with weird . . . things coming from the walls. Now imagine it being pitch black, the temperature is freaking high and damp and the smell was horrid, like rotten corpses.

Then you'll be able to imagine a bit of what Percy saw.

_Great, _Nyx grumbled. _One of many things I want to delete from my memories_

"You're not helping," Percy said, the heat messing with his eyesight and the smell stung in his nose. It was like being in Tartarus all over again, without the help of Nyx's blessing. "God, it's hot in here,"

_You're in a monster's throat, what do you expect? A game room with recliners?_

"That would be nice," Percy muttered as he ventured further down, searching for the soft spot. He had to hurry before the monster roars again. The roar was horrible when he was outside, he did not know how it would sound like from the inside. He had no intention in going deaf or disintegrating in a monster's belly.

Just as he thought that, the monster roared, which sounded like very loud static noise being blasted into your ears with headphones being magnified a thousand times.

Luckily, he hadn't disintegrated.

Unluckily, he'd probably gone deaf.

_Wow, _Nyx said. _That would make a hell of an alarm ringtone_

Aside from the heat, the roar had made Percy's head spin. He couldn't even think straight. He closed his eyes, trying to regain his composure. He shook his head a few times and the dizziness subsided, but the headache was still there.

"Okay, going deaf in a monster's throat, check," Percy grumbled.

_What are you searching for anyway? _Nyx asked. As she said that, Percy saw what he searched for. There was something that looked like a thin fabric of body tissue, wrapped around multiple times until it formed some sort of vein. Whenever the monster growled, the vein shook in response.

"I'm looking for that," Percy grinned.

_Do you know what you're doing?_

"Nope,"

_So if doesn't goes as planned, you'll basically kill yourself,_

"Probably,"

_Oh, I feel so assured_, Nyx said sarcastically. With one swipe of his sword, Percy cut the vein off. It was surprising on how soft it was in the inside rather than the outside. When the vein was severed, the monster let out a growl of pain that sounded like the Velociraptor from Jurassic Park. Percy didn't know how a monster could sound that weird, but at least he didn't have that massive roar again.

Then, the insides of the monster rumbled.

Oh shit.

**Line Break**

By this point, Jason was surprised that the cops hadn't come in with helicopters, because the monster was making a hell of a ruckus. Piper and Annabeth was tired, Nico and Reyna was still unconscious, Thalia and Artemis had run out of arrows and was forced to use melee weapons while Jason was getting exhausted.

"Where is Percy?" Annabeth asked.

As soon as she said that, the monster let out a sound that sounded like a dinosaur trying to puke out a hairball. It clawed at its throat, like trying to get something out. There was a loud yell of defiance and Percy burst out from the throat of the monster, covered in black slime that neither of them want to know about.

The monster continued making weird choking sound before it dissolved into a puddle of darkness, then fled back into the hole it came from. Percy didn't have a very good landing because he was lying on the pavement, groaning in pain and covered with hot and sticky stuff. Percy felt like he had been through a tar machine.

"Percy!" Annabeth ran towards him and knelt. "Ew, gross,"

"Yep, nice to see you too," Percy grumbled. "Good god, that's one of the memories that I would be glad to get rid of."

Jason chuckled. "About time you helped us,"

"Well, it's not that easy to find your way around a monster's throat, you know?" Percy scratched his head. "It's dark, damp and disgusting,"

"Sounds like the New York sewers," Piper muttered.

They all laughed. "Let's go home, shall we?"

**Line Break**

On the way home, Annabeth and Artemis was busy fighting over Percy. They kept tugging at his arm and shouting at each other, which made his head hurt more than it already is. Jason carried Nico while Reyna and Piper carried Thalia. They watched Percy from behind with amusement as he was in the crossfire between two sides.

"You've got gooey stuff all over your hair," Artemis said as she brushed his hair, which made Annabeth angry. She glared at her before tugging Percy closer to her.

"Hey Percy," Annabeth said sweetly. "You know, I kinda missed you." She pulled his arm closer to her chest, using her sex appeal. His arm was now between her breasts, which made Percy blushed. "Can we spend some time together?" Annabeth said, being alluring.

Artemis fumed. "That's not fair!"

Annabeth smirked evilly. "Everything is fair in love, dear Artemis," Annabeth continued to press herself with Percy's arm. "Isn't that right, Percy?"

"Uh?" Percy managed.

Artemis looked like she was ready to run Annabeth over with a Harley. She then wrapped her arms around Percy's other arm and pulled him closer. "Percy, can you spend some time with me?"

"He's mine!" Annabeth argued.

"Says who?"

"Says-"

"Ladies!" Percy shouted, interfering with their feud. "I don't know what this is about, but I'm really tired, need a hot bath and some snacks. And this-" Percy gestured around them. "-isn't helping."

Nyx whistled in his head. _You handled that very well,_

"You're not helping too, Nyx," Percy grumbled. After that, they kept quiet. Percy wasn't angry, he's just tired. Their arguing wasn't helping him in the slightest.

**Line Break**

Percy immediately collapsed on the couch after taking a quick bath. He didn't even bother looking for a shirt, so he just fell asleep with just his shorts, which everyone considered immature.

"He never does change, does he?" Thalia smiled.

"Yep, he's still the same Seaweed Brain I knew," Annabeth stroked a hair from his peaceful sleeping figure. Percy stirred a bit, but he didn't wake up.

"So, was it good?" Thalia asked.

"Was what good?"

"Your little'moment' with Percy," Thalia smirked.

"How did-"

"Come on, Annabeth," Thalia rolled her eyes. "Everyone heard you that night. You were pretty loud,"

Annabeth blushed furiously. She did recall bits and pieces of her moaning loudly and maybe scream a few times, but she didn't expect them to hear it. It was her first time and Annabeth had to admit, it felt annoyingly good. So if she'd been screaming louder than expected, it shouldn't have been a surprise.

"Well, it was my first time. Could you blame me?"

Thalia held her hands up in surrender. "Keep it down next time, okay?"

"Can we not talk about that?"

"What was it like? _Ahh! Percy!_" Thalia mocked with a fake expression of pleasure in her face. Annabeth's face started to hear up.

"Thalia!" Annabeth exclaimed. Thalia laughed as she headed to her room. Annabeth huffed in annoyance as she sat next to Percy. The others head to bed early because of tonight but for some reason, Annabeth couldn't sleep. She couldn't help but thinking about Artemis's obvious feelings towards Percy. For once, Annabeth was thankful for Percy's obliviousness towards how Artemis felt.

It was pretty obvious Artemis had some sort of attraction towards Percy and Annabeth couldn't help but feel jealous. Well, how would you feel if someone had a crush on your boyfriend and wouldn't stop bothering him, even if she knew he had a girlfriend?

They were going to have to talk sometime soon. They couldn't just keep arguing about this and give everyone a headache.

If only Annabeth could swallow her pride as easy as that.

Both women had some trouble swallowing their pride, so it's going to be problematic for them. Annabeth felt guilty for giving Percy a hard time, but she couldn't blame him. With the gods hot on their tail and the trouble stirring deep in Tartarus, they were all having a hard time. Then, Percy saw Artemis walking over towards Percy and sit across to Annabeth. She wore one of Percy's shirt, which annoyed Annabeth even more.

Artemis and Annabeth had a glare contest that lasted for a few minutes and was interrupted when Percy stirred a bit in his sleep. Annabeth smiled at him and brushed his hair slightly.

"We're gonna have to talk about this, aren't we?" Artemis sighed.

Annabeth tried not to look away. "I guess so,"

"Look, I know you and Percy have a close bond,"

"He's mine," Annabeth said, stating her point.

"I know that as well," Artemis said, challenging her tone. "But I have feelings for him, Annabeth. I know he's yours, but that's not going to stop me from trying to get him. I'm a woman that wants what she wants,"

Annabeth smirked. She felt this connection she had with Artemis, just because they had something in common. An attraction towards Percy. The tension between them loosened up a bit, and opened the door to a closer bond. A friendly rivalry, perhaps. "Just know, I won't give him up so easily."

Artemis smirked back at her and offered her hand. Without hesitation, Annabeth shook it.

**Line Break**

That morning started off weird. The group woke up, finding Artemis and Annabeth laughing and chatting like old friends. They spent the whole night waking up, exchanging stories about everything like every woman would. When they asked Artemis and Annabeth about it, they just shrugged and acted like everything was normal.

Percy, on the other hand, was still sleeping, but he was on the edge of the couch. It would take just a nudge to make him fall to the floor, but no one was that mean.

Well, except for one person.

_WAKE UP! _Nyx shouted in his head.

Percy jolted straight up, but then fell to the floor face first. Everyone looked at him in surprise as he woke up, blinking the blurriness out of his eyes. He found several sets of eyes staring at him funnily.

"What?" Percy asked.

They laughed at his obliviousness while Percy managed to grin. He washed his face before he gathered at the kitchen with the others. He was a bit surprised that Annabeth and Artemis wasn't tearing each other's throats out, but he was fine with it.

"So, Percy," Thalia sipped from her cup of coffee. "What are you going to do next?"

"I'm going to Olympus,"

They stared at him as if he just said, _I want to eat a large smelly boot._

"Why?" Jason asked.

"There's something really big going on," Percy started. "Hestia had asked me to investigate Tartarus yesterday, to see why there were so much disturbance in it."

"So that's where you went," Nico bit his toast.

"Yeah, anyway, things aren't looking too good down there,"

"It's Tartarus, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth rolled her eyes. "It's never good down there,"

"Yeah, but now, it's like, even worse than before. I believe you just saw one of the bad things down there last night," Percy said. "If that was only one of them, imagine what ten of them would do. It would take a whole lot more than just us to beat them."

"As if we need more problems right now," Jason muttered. Piper gripped his hand comfortingly. "Anyway, what's the plan?"

"I'm going to Olympus,"

"You're going to help them?" Reyna asked.

Percy grinned and shook her head. "Oh, I'm not going to be Olympus's hero anymore. I'm not helping them. They're going to help me." This sent a grin across everyone's face.

**Line Break**

Olympus was in an urgent meeting, following the events of what happened last night. Something, something that none of them had ever seen, had popped out of the ground just like that. Luckily, that insolent Percy Jackson managed to take care of it.

Zeus grumbled in his throne silently, with Hera looking more bored than worried. None of the Olympians looked thrilled to be here, but none of them were ignoring the matter at hand. Something serious is about to happen and unless they find out what it is and stop it, it may prove to be the end of Olympus. Chaos's realm had barely been mentioned or even disturbed by anyone. The closest any living soul had gotten to it was again, Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, when they were at the edge of the Mansion of Night. They feared that their presence may have caused the realm to stir, but they can't be certain for sure.

"Any news of anything?" Zeus asked.

"Well, Tartarus is in complete chaos. Monsters are spawning all over the place, but none are going out. It's like they were killed in Tartarus by something." Hades reported.

"And I couldn't find anything on the monster," Athena said. "I've searched our oldest archives and even searched it on Google, but I'm afraid we have nothing on it."

"I just hope it pops out again," Ares grumbled. "It looked mean enough to be wrestled with,"

"Whatever threat we're facing is no laughing matter, Ares," Hestia said sternly. "I'm afraid this is beyond out powers, without any help from him."

"Bah!" Zeus argued. "We don't need him,"

"We do, brother, and you know it. In fact, he's coming right now,"

On cue, the doors to the throne room burst open, revealing Percy Jackson and Co. They barged in like they owned the place. The Olympians, except for Hestia, immediately sprung into action and drew all their weapons and aimed at the group of demigods.

"Damn," Percy muttered. "After six years of not visiting and this is the welcome I get?"

"State your business here," Zeus sneered. "Or I'll make you regret ever stepping foot in this throne room,"

Percy laughed. He sat down on the floor casually. "Sometimes, I don't get you Zeus. You want me to come to Olympus. Now that I'm here, you want me out of the throne room. Seriously, have you gone dumb?"

Electricity crackled in the air as Zeus fired his master bolt straight at Percy. A black barrier swirled and formed itself around Percy and his friends, protecting them from harm. "Yeah, that's not going to work anymore," Percy smirked.

Zeus was about to strike again but Athena held her father back. "Let me talk to him," Athena said. Zeus didn't look too happy about it, but he grumbled something before sitting back in his seat. "Why have you come here, Perseus? Are you surrendering to us?"

Percy had a fit of laughter after that. It took him a while to calm down, which furiously annoyed Zeus. "Surrender to you? In your godly dreams," Percy said, sighing. "I'm here to offer you a deal,"

"Olympians don't bargain," Demeter's eyes flared, but Percy waved it off.

"None of you scares me anymore," Percy said. "You can blast me all you want, but you know it's true when I say that I'm your most valuable asset,"

The gods tensed a bit, each of the eager to blast him away. Artemis admired how he had the courage to talk like that to the Olympians. When Artemis was part of the council, she had trouble talking when she was seven feet tall. Percy looked like an action figure compared to the Olympians, but he spoke with such confidence that they couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.

"Name your price," Athena said, carefully going with it.

"You will help me find out what's really going on right now and help me stop it. After that, you will leave me and my friends alone. Or . . ." Percy turned and met every single Olympian's eyes with his dark glare. "I will leave you to be destroyed by anything that's coming from that ungodly pit,"

"Heh, even a little runt like you couldn't do things without our help, can you?" Ares said smugly.

Percy smirked and shook his head. "No, Boar Head. You guys are helping me, not the other way around. There's a huge difference. Think of it as your repayment towards all the things you had told me to do when I was young,"

Zeus's hand was twitching to just zap that small demigod and be done with it, but he knew that Percy was right. Percy was their most valuable asset and they needed his help.

"Who're you calling a Boar Head?!" Ares growled.

"Oh, I've seen your helmet, Ares," Percy chuckled. "Believe me, you'd call yourself that too if you take one look in the mirror," Ares fumed and lunged himself towards Percy. Percy waved his hand and something came out of the floor and wrapped itself around Ares's ankle and yanked him back down, slamming him hard to the marble floor. "Don't do that," He warned. Then, Percy turned to the Olympians. "So, what do you say, Olympus?"

"We won't agree to such terms," Hera said.

"Hey, all I ask for is easy. Help me with this thing with Chaos's realm and after we're done, leave us alone. Or you can go for the second choice where the Western Civilization may potentially be destroyed. It's as simple as that. The choice is yours,"

Zeus was itching to get rid of him, but he managed to swallow his pride and gulped out. "Fine,"

"Swear it by the Styx,"

"I swear by the Styx to abide your conditions and assist you in this matter," Zeus said with such difficulty that most people would think he had speaking problems. Thunder boomed overhead as the deal was made. "Council dismissed!"

Every single Olympian flashed out of sight, except for Hestia. She walked over towards Percy, surprisingly in her adult form, and kissed him on the cheek before giving him a warm hug. Percy happily returned the hug and smiled at her, which Artemis, Annabeth and Nyx weren't happy about.

"What is she doing?" Artemis asked.

"Why did she kiss you?"

_And what's with the warm hug?_

"Jeez, relax!" Percy said. "I've just threatened the Olympian council, and they probably want my head right now. I don't want you guys to be in the list as well."

"Percy," Hestia tugged at his arm. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Oh, you didn't," Percy flashed a warm smile at her, which caused Artemis and Annabeth to glare at Percy.

"They look like they're going to kill me," Hestia said shyly and hugged Percy's arm tightly. Percy felt the sharp and cold daggers that Artemis and Annabeth was sending towards his soul.

"Percy," Annabeth said with a clearly fake sweet tone. "Can we talk?"

"Yeah, can we?" Artemis asked with the exact fake sweet voice. "We really need to talk,"

Percy sighed. At least there's one problem solved,

**A/N: Okay, most of you have watched anime with harems in it, right? So you must know the basics already. If you haven't I'm going to lay it down for you.**

**Artemis and Annabeth are the duo that's going to be fighting a lot to get Percy.**

**Nyx is the one who likes Percy, but has no chance with him whatsoever.**

**Hestia is that shy girl who likes Percy and whom Percy gives the most affection towards.**

**Did that make sense? I think so. Anyway, their relationship is going to get tougher and weirder from now on and the plot will be thickening. I just wanted to say Happy New Year to everyone who's reading this and sorry that it's a bit short.**


End file.
